More Than You Think You Are
by Virgo Writer
Summary: CCS AU. Satoshi is a young mage entrusted with the task of collecting the mystical clow cards, who, despite Kasumi's best efforts, would much rather be Shigeru's rival. As the three battle to collect the cards (aided by Takeshi and Natsume), they begin to wonder if maybe this is not the place they are supposed to be. AAMR. IN REVISION.
1. Bittersweet Rivalries

**More Than You Think You Are**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Card Captor Sakura.

I've decided to replace the previous chapters of this story with the re-write mostly because I hate that I've got all these chapters just gathering (metaphorical) dust on my computer. Hope you enjoy.

Because that the Pokemon fandom tends to be (for lack of a better word) less Japanese oriented than most anime fandoms, I've got a massive set of notes at the end of the chapter for cross referencing peoples names, Japanese words, and naming conventions. Apparently I was very thorough when I wrote this.

* * *

Summary: AU CCS. Satoshi is a young mage entrusted with the task of collecting the mystical **clow cards**, who for some reason, and despite Kasumi's best efforts, would much rather be Shigeru's rival. As the three battle to collect the cards (aided by Takeshi and Natsume), they begin to wonder if maybe this is not the place they are supposed to be and find that they must each give upsomething important in order to return to their own world and where they belong. **Pokeshipping, Mangashipping & Rocketshipping**.

* * *

More Than You Think You Are - Bittersweet Rivalries

_A pair of brown eyes opened slowly taking in everything around him. He could see two figures crouched by an open fire, their heads close together as they spoke in low tones._

_"Do you think he'll be ok?" one of the crouched figures asked, her voice light and feminine. He noted the way her hair reflected the bright embers of the fire._

_"I don't know," the other figure replied, this one male with familiar spiky hair._

_"T-tak?" he questioned, his voice rough. It was an effort to say more than that._

_The female figure ran to his side. "Ash, don't speak," she commanded, her voice soft and full of concern. "It'll all be alright," she told him with conviction in spite of her previous question._

_He shook his head, glancing at the girl before him. He didn't think that he had ever seen anyone more beautiful in his life. Her hair was a deep red like molten lava. Her eyes were blue-green like the deepest oceans. And her lips were so pink they seemed to beg him to kiss her._

_But something wasn't right. Because he wasn't Ash. He was Satoshi, and as beautiful as she was, he had never seen her before in his life. And yet she acted so kindly towards him that it couldn't possibly be the case._

_"Hey, Ash, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly, noting the confusion washed across his features. "It's me, Myst, you can tell me anything."_

_"Who are you?" he rasped, his voice straining to find the words. He regretted them as soon as he said them, seeing her face become awash with sadness in grief. "Myst," he said, trying to take them back. "Myst-"_

_"Go to sleep, Ash," she told him softly, her voice soothing as her fingers traced lightly over the contours of his face. She placed a light kiss on his forehead as he closed his eyes, smiling slightly to himself as she lulled him to sleep with her soft caress._

_"Good night, my love."_

* * *

Satoshi flinched as he felt the first rays of sunlight burn against his closed lids. He wasn't accustomed to waking up with the sun – in fact he could sleep through absolutely anything – but the strange dream he just had made it impossible to return to sleep.

"You okay, kid?" a soft voice asked, the words inflicted with a sharp Osaka accent. "Your aura was off the scales just now. Was it a prophetic dream?"

Satoshi shook his head, turning to his guardian as he wiped his sleepy eyes. "I don't think so," he mumbled sleepily. "It was strange, Pika-chan," he admitted to the plush-like false form of the guardian beast of the seal. "It was like I was someone else.

"There was a girl," he elaborated, fighting back a blush at the thought of the beautiful apparition in his dream. "She kept calling me 'Ash' and I felt like I knew her somehow."

The flying plush toy frowned at this, crossing his tiny paws over his chest. "This is very strange," Pika muttered to himself.

"Is something wrong?" Satoshi asked, noting his guardian's strange expression.

"Yes," Pika replied. "I ran out of KETCHUPPPP!" he wailed.

Satoshi was about to reply when his door flew open to reveal an older female with bright pink hair pulled back in a style that almost defied gravity itself. "Oh, you're up," she intoned blandly upon seeing her little brother awake in his bed. Her eyes land upon the stiff plush toy in his lap. "Don't you think you're a little _old_ to be playing with soft toys, twerp?" she asked with a sardonically raised eyebrow.

"Satoshi no twerp!" he growled, tossing Pika at his older sister on reflex. She pulled the door half closed and ducked behind her shield, causing Pika to hit painfully into the solid wood door.

"Whatever," she muttered. "Just hurry up alright. Okaa-san has an early start today, so she can't drive you if you're late."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as she closed the door shut. "I'll be down in a minute."

As soon as Musashi left, he ran to apologise to his somewhat dazed guardian.

"I'm so sorry, Pika-chan," he said. "I forgot you were there."

"Oh look, a Clow card," Pika replied, stumbling drunkenly as he tried to stand.

Satoshi smiled sheepishly as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head, as he was prone to do in such situations. He was going to have to buy Pika an extra large bottle of ketchup to make up for things. He left the guardian with a few single serve ketchup packets for when he came to and headed down stairs.

"Ohayo, Okaa-san," he said warmly as he ran into his mother at the bottom of the stairs. Hanako Ketchum returned his bright smile with one of her own, her eyes lighting brightly with pride and love.

"Ohayo, Satoshi-kun," she said warmly, wrapping her son in a warm hug and kissing his cheek. She paid no heed to his protest that he was fourteen and almost a man, and that it was somehow inappropriate for her to still go around kissing him. She simply smiled in return. "You'll always be my little boy, 'Toshi," she told him, ruffling his already messy raven hair.

"Your lunch is on the counter," she added, picking up her things. "And I signed the permission slip – it's on the fridge. Don't get into any trouble, and don't forget to change your 'you-know-what's'."

"Ma!" he complained, but she was already out the door.

His sister barely restrained a snort. "I don't know why you're laughing, 'nee-chan," he proclaimed. "She tells you the same thing, and you're eighteen."

She shrugged. "Just hurry up already," she complained. "We're meeting Kojiro and Yamato-chan at the corner."

"How come we always have to walk to school with your friends?" he complained. "Don't you ever want to spend some special sibling time together?"

"It's because I like them more than you," she said simply as she dashed out the door.

Satoshi sighed a little as he followed her. He didn't really mind too much walking with his sister's friends. Kojiro was always friendly, and Yamato was never cruel even though she tended to ignore him most of the time. She only really attended to him when she wanted something, and it was in those moments she would toss her yellow blonde hair and bat her violet eyes and take advantage of his schoolboy crush with absolutely no qualms whatsoever.

He jumped on his bike and tried to catch up to his sister who raced gracefully ahead of him on a bike of her own.

"'Sashi-chan! Satoshi-kun!" Kojiro called, waving wildly at the pair of siblings as they made their way towards him. "I was almost afraid you weren't coming," he commented as an after thought more to Musashi. He sent her his most charming smile, blushing slightly when she returned it.

"I'm glad you finally made it, '_Sashi-chan_," Yamato sighed with a tone of slight annoyance, emphasising Kojiro's address. "Morning, Satoshi-kun," she added nonchalantly as she noticed her best friends little brother staring up at her adoringly. She offered him a forced smile and turned back to her friends. "We better get going."

They all nodded in agreement as they made their way to the high school. Musashi and her friends were all seniors at Seijou High, where as Satoshi had begun high school the previous April. Although Musashi would never admit it (not even to Kojiro) his being in high school made it much easier for her to watch over her little brother. No matter how old he got, she would always think of him as an accident-prone little kid, and it would always be her duty to protect him.

Kojiro often teased her over her 'sister-complex'.

"Remember what Okaa-san said," Musashi teased as they split to their different parts of the high school.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he ran off to meet his friends.

Satoshi was in a good mood when he walked into the classroom. This was probably because it was the first time in weeks that he hadn't woken up to a shower of freezing cold thanks to his sister, and that would put anyone in a good mood.

His two best friends gaped at his presence.

"Satoshi-kun, is that really you?" Ayumi asked in surprise, not quite believing it to be true.

"No it can't be, Ayumi-chan," Takeshi replied, checking his watch for confirmation. "It's only ten to nine. It must be an illusion."

"Maybe it's a card," she gasped, suddenly quite serious. For some reason, she didn't seem to understand that Takeshi had been joking. "Who are you and what have you done with Ketchum Satoshi?" she asked, taking on a poorly orchestrated defensive stance. She seemed quite ready to fight whatever this thing really was.

"Guys, I'm not that bad," Satoshi protested. "I do occasionally wake up on my own my own accord you know."

Takeshi scoffed. "Satoshi, you would sleep through the most important day of your life and you know it. You're lucky your lovely sister seems to take such pleasure in waking you up, or else you'd never get anywhere."

Satoshi frowned and made to retort, but in that moment their homeroom/mathematics teacher, Ivy-sensei, walked into the classroom with an air of importance. Takeshi went into his usual 'pretty-girl-mode' and Satoshi knew from past experience that it was impossible to get through to his best friend when a pretty-girl was in the vicinity.

"Ohayo, minna-san," she said, addressing the whole class. "I'm glad to you're all on time today," she added, giving Satoshi a pointed look. Apparently Ayumi and Takeshi weren't the only ones surprised to see him so early.

"Class, today-" she began, but was interrupted by a soft knock on the classroom door. Every eye in the room turned to the door at the back of the classroom as it opened to reveal an unfamiliar figure attired in the Seijou uniform.

Satoshi's eyes widened immediately as he recognised the telltale red hair and cerulean blue eyes that had seemed to haunt his dreams. Her bright eyes seemed to twinkle with mirth, and a small smile quirking on her lips as she absorbed the attention given to her.

It was the girl from his dreams, or rather the girl of his dreams if he was ready to admit that. He felt his heart race at the sight of her.

"_Myst_," he breathed softly as she walked past him on her way to the teacher's desk at the front of the room.

She stopped upon hearing this and whipped her head around to face him sending him one of her most threatening of glares before continuing her trek to the front of the room.

Satoshi let out the breath he had subconsciously been holding as she turned her back on him and handed a piece of paper to the teacher. She looked so completely innocent, as if she hadn't been glaring daggers at him only seconds earlier. But the thing that struck him most was that she was even more beautiful than in his dreams. In this light her flaming red hair seemed to shimmer like liquid fire or something just as rare and unimaginable. The blue in her eyes seemed so much clearer now, it seemed to swirl perfectly into the green as if the two separate colours were one in the same and always had been.

He supposed she would have looked even more beautiful if it wasn't for that constant smirk settled so quickly across her face.

"As I was saying," Ivy-sensei began again, "we have a new student with us today transferring from Hong Kong."

The students began to murmur with excitement as they examined the new student. It was rare for a transfer to happen so late in the year. It was almost September, and preparation had already begun for their coming exams.

"Students," Ivy-sensei said, bringing the class to silence. "This is Yawa Kasumi. I hope you will all do your best to help her settle in and make her comfortable in her new school.

"Now where to put you?" she asked aloud, briefly scanning the look of the sea of faces. "Aha! There's a seat right in front of Ketchum Satoshi. Ketchum-san, please stand."

"Hai," Satoshi answered, doing as he was told. He knew that it was more a command than a request, and Ivy-sensei intended for it to be followed immediately.

"Ohayo, boku wa Ketchum Satoshi desu," he said with a friendly smile, holding his hand out to the new student. He desperately hoped he wasn't blushing as hard as he thought he was. "You can call me 'Satoshi'."

"Whatever, Ketchum," she said swatting his hand away. "You already know my name and I don't really care what you call me – although 'Yawa-senpai' is preferable. 'Myst' is not," she added with a snarl, "and I don't know where you got it from, but I'd appreciate if you would refrain from repeating it."

"Um . . . uh . . . hai," he replied awkwardly, thrusting his rejected handshake into his pocked. "Domo, Yawa-senpai. I'm very sorry . . . I . . ."

"You can stop now," she muttered, turning her back on him and dropping into her chair.

All Satoshi could do was stare at the spot where she had previously stood, his eyes and mouth hanging wide like some idiot.

"Ketchum-san," the sensei questioned. "Would you mind sitting?"

Satoshi blushed madly as he nodded his head. He tried to meet the eyes of the other students as he took his seat.

"Baka," he heard the pretty red head in front of him mutter disdainfully.

He sighed to himself. How would he ever get this girl to like him when she thought we was an idiot?

_'Not that I want her to like me,'_ he added hastily to himself, trying to deny the fact that Kasumi Yawa had definitely sparked his interest. He had never felt such a desire to get close to someone before in his life, and the fact that she seemed to hate the very core of him was causing him various degrees of pain. He wondered if such feelings were normal.

He heard Takeshi snicker as a note was passed onto his desk.

**_I see my little Sato-chan is finally taking an interest in the fairer sex.  
~ Tak_**

_I'm not._

He wrote back, but the words seemed to lack conviction even to him self as he recalled her final words in his dream. She said she loved him, although not in so many words, and that had filled him with warmth even when she was nothing but a figment of his imagination. Now she was a more persistent figment and expressing almost the exact opposite sentiment, and all he could do was hope that she changed her mind.

* * *

_'How dare he!'_ Kasumi screamed in her head as she stalked out of the classroom, glad that lunch hour was finally upon them. In spite of it being more than three hours since that initial confrontation, Kasumi's mind was still upon the impertinent boy who had addressed her by one of her most despised nicknames without even knowing who she was. The very nerve of him! Who did he think he was going around divulging old, forgotten nicknames?

She knew exactly his type. He was the kind of guy who could get away with anything just by turning those sweet chocolate brown eyes against any female he was forced to contend with. She imagined that naïve looking, clueless stare he had given her had melted many hearts into doing his bidding, but it _would not_ work on her – she was stronger than that and would not let her knees go weak just because some cute looking boy was giving her his undivided attention for a few seconds.

Kasumi Yawa was not like those other girls. She would not fall prey to his idiotic charm or that irresistible denseness. At least she hoped she wouldn't.

She steeled herself slightly as she made her way towards said boy, seeing him laughing happily among a group of friends. She would have loved to simply avoid the boy for the rest of her stay in Japan, but she got the sinking suspicion that he was the only reason she was even there. The second she had walked into the classroom, she felt herself almost drawn to the strong red aura that curled around him.

"The sooner I get what I came for, the sooner I can go home," she reminded herself as she crept closer to the group. She took a deep breath and forced a sickeningly sweet smile onto her face as she closed the last few meters of distance between them.

"Um . . . Satoshi-kun?" she questioned as she tapped him on the shoulder. She sent him a sweet nervous smile and glanced at him through her lashes as she quashed the mixed feelings his gaze seemed to instil in her.

Satoshi almost shuddered at the jolt of electricity that radiated from her touch. The very thought of her seemed to send tingles down his spine, but here she was before him, saying his name and giving him a look that made his heart want to jump out of his chest. He was pretty sure this was the definition of heaven.

"H-hai, Yawa-san. H-how m-may I be of s-service?" he stuttered, trying his best to be completely smooth and sweep the pretty girl off her feet. He could see Takeshi withholding laughter, and it was clear this was more for her sake than his. Takeshi shot him a 'thumbs up' as a sign of encouragement, but given his friend's own track record, he thought very little of it.

"Well, I uh . . . kind of need to talk to you about something," she said shyly her eyes suddenly finding the ground rather interesting. "Do you mind if we . . ." she trailed off.

Satoshi nodded dumbly. He was struck by how beautiful she was, and how cute she looked with this shy demeanour. Something inside him seemed to warn that this wasn't the real Kasumi, but with her looking at him like that, he could hardly care.

He followed her, hardly noting as they moved into a deserted part of the school. Soon they were the only two people around, and the beauty before him turned abruptly with the fiercest glare he had ever seen spread across his favourite features.

The beautiful innocence that had been displayed across her face only moments earlier was once again replaced by that look of hatred he had seen in the beginning – a look that only ever really seemed to be aimed in his direction. It made him wonder what was wrong with this girl; as far as he knew these sorts of mood swings were not natural, nor were they hormone induced.

Not that he cared all that much. All he could think in that moment was how anger seemed to make her even more enchanting. Her cheeks were flushed a healthy pink, her eyes seemed to simmer with heat, and her hair seemed even brighter than usual. He determined that she would always be at her most intense of beauties in his presence.

"You have something of mine," she said vehemently, her blue-green eyes boring into his chocolate brown. "I want it back."

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to remain cool in her presence. "I d-don't know what you're t-talking a-bout." His voice had betrayed him once again.

She scoffed. "I'm in a good mood," she said sarcastically, "so I'm going to give you one more chance."

A brilliant sapphire blue aura suddenly flared around her. It was powerful, and radiated magic much like the cards themselves. "Where is it?" she asked pointedly, emphasising each word. She narrowed her eyes and held a hand out towards him.

He was beginning to get the hint. This beautiful magical girl was after the cards. Pika had warned him about the Clow cards getting into the wrong hands, but he couldn't have meant her, could he? Satoshi hated the thought that they had suddenly gone from classmates to mortal enemies – now he'd never have a chance with her!

So he lied, somehow hoping that it would be in his favour. He played dumb, pretending like he hadn't seen the azure aura swirling around her and that magic was not something he was familiar with. "I promise, Yawa-san," he spoke sincerely, his words technically honest, "I have nothing that belongs to you."

"Bullshit," she muttered harshly. "You think I didn't do my research before I came here? You think I haven't noticed the way you draw magic towards you? Do you think I'm that stupid?"

"Um . . . no?" he offered weakly.

She rolled her eyes. "Well now that's been established, I suggest you just hand over the Clow cards and get this all over and done with," she said, holding her hand out once again. "I don't know what you're doing with them, but as a descendant of Clow Reed himself, I demand that you relinquish whatever you have collected to the rightful owner and just forget they ever existed.

"I _will not_ have my destiny thwarted by some stupid kid," she added coldly with narrowed eyes. It wasn't fair. She had been trained her whole life for this, and then some silly boy comes along and accidentally opens the book and takes all that away from her.

Satoshi returned her glare. "I was appointed by Pikachu, the guardian beast of the seal, and if you wish to take offense to that, then so be it," he growled, his stance becoming defensive. "Take it up with Clow Reed if you havta', seeing as you two appear to be 'tight', but leave me alone."

He turned to walk away, but Kasumi stopped him, grabbing his arm. She shifted her grasp to his tie, pulling his face close to her own. "Give me the Clow cards," she said in a low voice, their faces only inches apart.

Satoshi met her gaze, his changed feelings making it easier to do so, although he didn't fail to blush at their proximity. "Assuming that I was totally for that, I reckon it would be kinda hard to, given they're not even on me," he muttered sarcastically. "Give up, Yawa-san. Pika-chan chose me. Get over it."

She almost snarled at him as she stepped back, pushing him away in the process. "I guess you want to do this the hard way," she muttered back. "Just remember that I gave you the option, Ketchum."

She closed her eyes, summoning a strange board with Chinese markings into existence. She whispered something quietly in Cantonese as the board in her hands began to glow brightly. As she called the last word, a beam shot from the board and pointed at the satchel hung on Satoshi's shoulder.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked, menacingly. Satoshi didn't, but he could certainly guess. He cursed silently under his breath.

She seemed to smirk at his response, but continued in her explanation regardless. "This is a laizen board, passed down from Clow himself. It has one purpose and one purpose only – to detect Clow cards. According to this, there appears to be a Clow card in your satchel.

"Did you know there was a Clow card in your bag, Satoshi-kun?" she asked with false sweetness, a smirk upon her lips.

He shook his head, which only caused her smirk to widen. "You wouldn't be lying to me now, would you, Sato-chan?" Satoshi shook his head again, ignoring the chill that went down his spine as she spoke his name. Funny, his body never reacted like that when Takeshi said it.

"This is you last chance, Ketchum," she said, reverting back to his last name which was somewhat relieving. "Give them up now, or I'll have to use force."

She gave him a few moments to make up his mind, but when his decision became clear, she stalked towards him and made a grab for the bag. Seeing this, Satoshi took the bag in one hand and held it above his head and just out of her grasp. Kasumi was tall, but luckily for him, he was taller. Her body brushed against his as she made a jump for it, filling him with warmth.

"Give it to me now," she growled, reaching for it. Satoshi almost smirked at how easy this was, but the next instant she swept her leg along the ground in a low kick, and knocked him off his feet.

She straddled his stomach, keeping him pinned as she made a grab for the bag. Satoshi acted quick, using the weight discrepancy to his advantage, and forced her round onto her back, pinning her down with his body. She squirmed underneath him as she tried to find some leverage, causing all sorts of thoughts for his post-pubescent imagination. In that moment the Clow cards were the farthest thing from his mind.

Finally she stopped squirming and just glared at him hard.

"Do you give up?" he asked, his voice low and husky. He was almost breathless from the exertion and the fiery look in her eyes.

"Never," she growled back, her eyes hardening.

"Really?" he smirked, leaning forward unconsciously. "You certainly aren't in the position to negotiate."

"As-"

"Err hem," came a loud cough, cutting her off in whatever she was attempting to say. The two jumped apart immediately, Satoshi leaping to his feet, while Kasumi sat up and innocently played with her skirt.

"Okido-sama," Satoshi greeted awkwardly, bowing respectfully to the renowned teacher. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Satoshi-kun," Professor Okido replied. "I see you've been acquainting the new student with the school grounds."

"Sensei, it's not what . . ." Satoshi began to protest, his cheeks going red as he realized how inappropriate it must have looked. "We weren't . . ."

"I think the two of you should get to class," the Professor suggested, giving Satoshi a knowing look.

"Uh . . . h-hai," Satoshi agreed weakly. He quickly grabbed Kasumi's hand and began to pull her away, both of them too stunned to protest the touch. He blushed brightly as he heard his teacher and family friend chuckle.

Once they were far enough away he turned to Kasumi, stuttering awkwardly once again. "So . . . I . . . um-"

"Whatever," she said, disdainfully pulling her hand from is grasp. "If everyone just wants to damn the world to suffering because of some idiot, then it's their problem not mine."

And with that she stalked away, leaving Satoshi with nothing to do but to wistfully watch her receding figure.

_'Well,'_ he thought to himself, _'that certainly went well.'_

~ to be continued~

Next chapter: Satoshi and Kasumi combine their forces against their first card.

* * *

Notes:

**Satoshi Ketchum: **Ash Ketchum. Also known as 'Toshi', 'Sato-chan', 'Satoshi-kun'.

**Osaka:** Southern Japanese city. Kinda rural. I think this is the Japanese equivalent of say a Brooklyn accent or low-Australian. Before you ask, Meowth is not Osakian, 4Kids just suck.

**-chan: **Honorific. Dimunitive suffix. Used mostly for girls. Suggests familiarity.

**-kun:** Suffix often used for boys. Like '-chan' it suggests familiarity - chan is more familiar.

**Ohayo: **Hello. Informal.

**Okaa-san: **Mother

**Musashi Ketchum:** Jesse (Team Rocket). Sister of Satoshi. Also known as 'Sashi-chan' (mostly by Kojiro. Note this is a _very_ familiar address - implies not merely familiarity, but intimacy).

**Hanako Ketchum: **Delia Ketchum

**Kojiro Tsuki: **James (Team Rocket). Musashi's best friend.

**Yamato Syoku:** Cassidy (Team Rocket)

**Ayumi Gensou:** OC

**Takeshi Nibi**: Brock Slate. Also known as 'Tak'. Takeshi and Satoshi rarely use honorifics to speak to one another suggesting they have a close relationship.

**Ivy-sensei:** Professor Ivy. '-sensei' is an honorific indicating teacher among other things.

**Minna-san:** Everybody.

**Kasumi Yawa: **Misty Waterflower. Also known as 'Myst', 'Little Mist', 'Sumi-chan', 'Xiao Xia', 'Xia xia', 'mei mei'.

**-san:** more formal/generic suffix.

**Ohayo, boku wa Ketchum Satoshi desu: **Hello, my name is. Masculine form.

**-senpai:** suffix used when addressing superiors e.g. senior students. Kasumi is thus implying that Satoshi is her inferior.

**Domo:** Sorry. Informal.

**Baka:** Idiot.

**Okido-sama:** Professor Oak. I decided it was more appropriate to refer to him as '-sama' rather than '-sensei' because he is the top of his field and widely reknown. Suffix meaning 'master'.


	2. Knock on Wood

**More Than You Think You Are**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Card Captor Sakura.

I've decided to replace the previous chapters of this story with the re-write mostly because I hate that I've got all these chapters just gathering (metaphorical) dust on my computer. Hope you enjoy.

Because that the Pokemon fandom tends to be (for lack of a better word) less Japanese oriented than most anime fandoms, I've got a massive set of notes at the end of the chapter for cross referencing peoples names, Japanese words, and naming conventions. Apparently I was very thorough when I wrote this.

* * *

Summary: CCS AU. Satoshi is a young mage entrusted with the task of collecting the mystical **clow cards**, who for some reason, and despite Kasumi's best efforts, would much rather be Shigeru's rival. As the three battle to collect the cards (aided by Takeshi and Natsume), they begin to wonder if maybe this is not the place they are supposed to be and find that they must each give upsomething important in order to return to their own world and where they belong. **Pokeshipping, Mangashipping & Rocketshipping**.

* * *

More Than You Think You Are - Knock on Wood

"Oh my gosh," Ayumi gaped as Satoshi recalled what had happened at lunch to his two best friends. He had obviously – for Ayumi's sake – left out some key details. "What a BITCH!"

"Ayumi-chan," Takeshi cautioned, but she continued unabated.

"I mean, who does that bitch think she is trying to take the cards like that? I can't believe that slut would try something," she exclaimed loudly.

"Ayumi-chan," came another caution, this one from Satoshi. "She's not-"

"Oh my gosh," she gaped, cutting him off. "You're not seriously defending her after what she did? That bitch attacked you on school grounds, and you're freakin' defending her."

"I'm not defending her," Satoshi insisted, "I'm just-"

"Standing up for her?" Aymui suggested sardonically. "Putting in a good word? Any other euphemisms or synonyms you want to try?"

"I guess I can kinda see where she's coming from," he tried despondently. "She said it was her destiny and she had been training for it her whole life, and I took that away from her."

"And the fact that she's all blue-eyed and long-legged has nothing to do with it," she muttered spitefully under her breath. It was a good thing Satoshi hadn't heard her, as he probably only would have made matters worse by correcting her appraisal of Kasumi's eye colour.

She almost growled aloud at the thought of Seijou High's latest student. It just wasn't fair at all. She was Satoshi's best friend, and she had always hoped that the hormones finally kicked in that Satoshi would start to see her as more than a friend, but suddenly this girl shows up out of the blue, and he immediately stats fawning over her.

_'What does a girl have to go to get some attention from the boy?'_ Ayumi asked herself angrily. _'Dye my hair red?'_

"What did she say exactly?" Pika cut in, curious for more details of their new opponent.

"She said she was Clow Reed's descendant," Satoshi explained. "She had this . . . thing – she called it a 'laizen board' – and she said it was made by Clow to help collect the cards."

"What was her name?" Pika asked.

"Kasumi," Satoshi answered, almost savouring her name as it rolled off his tongue.

"Yawa," Ayumi added moodily, replying before Pika could admonish Satoshi for his unhelpful response.

"So I take it she is a member of the Yawa clan? They are descendents of Clow Reed's mother," Pika guessed thoughtfully. Satoshi nodded, remembering the use of the word 'clan' at some point. "If she's here, then she's probably the heir. She will be a very powerful magician. I think you should stay clear of her."

"I agree," Ayumi said quickly.

"I don't know," Satoshi replied. "Maybe she could help us. If she's as powerful as you say, wouldn't she make a better ally than an enemy?"

"And if she's as determined to have the cards as you say, do you really think she'd be willing to help you?" Ayumi replied pointedly.

"I just think we should give her a chance," Satoshi protested. "I don't want her as my enemy," he sulked.

"Well, I don't want her as a friend," Ayumi replied, raising her voice.

"Ayumi-chan," Takeshi cautioned once again, trying to calm her down before she said something she regretted.

"No, Satoshi needs to hear this," she replied, glaring at the two boys. "That girl is not the kind of person you want to be friends with, and you should just give up on trying to be anything to her. She's-"

The loud crash of thunder silenced her, and Ayumi jumped away from the window in fright.

Satoshi and Pika turned to one another with a look of understanding. "Clow card," they said at the same time.

"You guys go ahead," he told Takeshi and Ayumi, "Pika and I will meet you at the school."

"Alright," Takeshi nodded.

"Wait," Ayumi called, digging into her bag. "You have to wear this," she told him as she pulled out her latest creating. "No arguments. You've got to start looking like a card captor, especially if that slut's going to show her face."

"Ok, Ayumi-chan," he sighed, accepting the garments. He walked his two friends down the front door and said his goodbyes before heading back up to his room to change.

He attired himself quickly, pulling on a pair of comfy fighting cream trousers that were lose around the legs but cinched at the ankles. This was matched with a deep red, sleeveless v-neck tunic that came to mid-thing, and a black sash wrapped around his waist seemingly aesthetic rather than practical purposes. She even had a pair of soft-soled black slippers to match. All this made for easy manoeuvrability and nothing loose to catch himself on (Ayumi had learnt that lesson early on).

He closed his eyes and pulled the key from around his neck in order to summon his staff.

"Key that holds the power of darkness," he chanted in a low voice, "reveal your true to form to me. I, Satoshi, under contract command you, RELEASE!"

The key glowed in his palms, and grew to full size. He pulled out one of his cards, and tapped it with the staff. "FLY!" he called as the card and staff began to glow. Two large wings grew upon the staff, and within moments Satoshi and Pika took to the air in search of the latest card to be captured.

Everything was silent when they arrived at the school, but both Satoshi and Pika could still sense the card's presence nearby. It seemed to be biding its time, though what for was beyond them.

"Satoshi-kun, you look so kawaii!" Ayumi cheered upon seeing him, holding her handy cam up to her eye.

"Thanks," he replied awkwardly, looking helplessly at Takeshi.

The older boy just laughed. "Aw, c'mon, Sato," Takeshi encouraged. "You never know. Maybe Yawa-san will be here, and I know you want to dress to impress."

"That's what I was afraid of," Ash muttered to himself, blushing at the thought. He reminded himself that it was at least an improvement on Ayumi's last battle costume – he would have hated for Kasumi to catch him dressed in the layers upon layers of frills Ayumi had him in for his last capture.

Ayumi scoffed even though she had used the threat of the Hong Kong native to get Ash into the costume to begin with. "I doubt it," she replied haughtily, turning her back on the two boys. "Didn't she say she was going to leave us all to save ourselves?"

"She did say that, didn't she?" an unseen voice commented, mimicking Ayumi's haughty tone. "But I guess she wasn't as heartless as all that.

"You know it's bad manners to go about repeating conversations you weren't privy to," the voice added. "I really would have thought better of the one and only daughter of Gensou Hiro."

Ayumi reddened with anger, not liking at all what was being insinuated. She narrowed her eyes, trying to spot the speaker so that she could direct her glare appropriately.

"Oh just look what the cat dragged in," Ayumi muttered as she spotted the speaker atop the school hall, dressed in a long sleeved dark blue tangzhuang style robe split in four from the waist over black breeches and knee-high boots. She silently cursed her own taste when she noted that Satoshi and Kasumi's battle attire seemed to compliment one another.

"Where is the guardian beast of the seal?" Kasumi questioned. "I'd like to propose a challenge for the appointee."

She dived gracefully down from the roof, landing before the group with practiced ease. She raised an eyebrow in their direction as though waiting for applause, and Satoshi had to stop himself before he did just that.

"I am him," Pika said proudly, moving beside his chosen candidate.

"You?" she asked, scoffing in disbelief. "_You_ are Pikachu? _You_ are the guardian beast of the seal?"

He nodded proudly in assent.

Kasumi turned to the rest of the group. "You're all telling me that this _stuffed animal_ is _the_ Pikachu, the beast with the golden eye? The fierce creature that protects the seal of the Clow cards?"

They all nodded.

"We're all doomed," she concluded simply, flinging her hands dramatically into the air. "The fate of the world rests on you three bumbling fools and a stuffed animal. Great tragedy, here we come."

"Oh why you little . . ." Pika growled darkly.

Kasumi looked unimpressed. "What are you going to do to me stuffed animal? Cuddle me to death? I'd like to see that happen."

"You just wait," Pika muttered. "As soon as I'm out of my borrowed form, you'll really see what I'm made of. I'll beat you so bad even your family wouldn't recognise you."

"Like that's going to happen. Keep waiting, Pika-chan," she said airily. "That moron of yours couldn't even catch a cold."

With that Pika had just about had enough, he lunged at Kasumi and did the only thing he could. He bit her, hard.

"What the . . ." Kasumi exclaimed screaming obscurities in Cantonese at anyone who would listen to her.

Satoshi frowned. They were definitely looking more like enemies than allies in spite of Satoshi's wishes. He didn't really see what hope could be had when the girl of his dreams had already antagonised his guardian and one of his best friends. Takeshi, on the other hand, seemed to be thoroughly amused by the goings on.

Kasumi shook her hand wildly until Pika fell off. Before he could latch on again, Satoshi pulled Pika back and looked to Kasumi imploringly.

"You said something about a challenge," he said, watching her carefully.

She nodded. "If you are worthy of the role you have been given," she commented blandly, "you would be able to capture this card with very little trouble. As that is highly unlikely, I propose a challenge. Whoever captures this card will be the card captor."

"And what do I get?" Satoshi asked.

"To be the card captor."

"I'm already the card captor," he replied. "What do I get of out agreeing to your challenge? The way it stands there isn't anything in it for me. I could refuse your challenge and be in the exact same position as if I won. I reckon you'd be in a better mood that way."

Kasumi growled in response. She knew he was right. The smirk that settled on his face told her she wasn't the only one who knew it. "What do you want?" she acquiesced tightly.

_'A kiss?'_ his mind suggested immediately, and he tried to block out that first thought. It was certainly an appealing one, but he doubted Kasumi would agree with him on that one. He certainly wouldn't be getting a kiss form her, at least not tonight.

"I don't want you to be my enemy," he said finally, thinking back to his previous conversation with Takeshi, Pika, and Ayumi. "We don't have to be friends, at least not unless you want to, but I don't want us enemies. We can both collect the cards without being enemies, right?"

"Whatever," she muttered in response. "I don't see what difference it makes. I doubt you'll win."

"Of course he'll win," Pika interrupted. "Satoshi is the card captor, and you're just some whiny little girl."

"Guys," Takeshi spoke, trying to get their attention.

"We'll see," Kasumi muttered. "You can hardly trust a stuffed animal to make such a momentous decision."

"Guys," he tried again, slightly louder this time.

"Don't say that about Pika," Ayumi cried.

"Guys!"

"I can say what I like about this sorry excuse for a digimon."

"GUYS!" Takeshi yelled, even louder than before.

"What?" Kasumi answered snarkily, answering for the group as a whole.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Takeshi began, his tone unusually harsh, "but in case you guys haven't noticed, it's suddenly started pouring down with rain and there's some evil little piece of paper gone postal on the loose which has something to do with all this. Now this may just serve as a reality check for those of you who are way past the limits of the imagination already, but there's a bolt of lightning heading straight for us and guess what, water conducts electricity!"

They diverted their attention from their fight to the sky, only to discover that Takeshi was right. The sudden rain added a component of danger to an already volatile situation. Lightning flashed across the sky, and bolt of lightning directed itself towards them.

"Raitei shourai!" Kasumi called as she quickly summoned her own staff, and hitting it lengthways against the ofuda. She sent a powerful bolt of lightning up into the sky, the force striking back at the bolt aimed at the four companions and diverting it from its target.

Pika couldn't help but be worried by this. Lightning was a difficult element to master, but the girl seemed to have no problems controlling it. She used magic like a pro and controlled her staff as though it were another appendage.

"She's pretty powerful for a little girl," he admitted quietly.

"What did you say, you little rodent?" Kasumi growled, turning her attention away from her task so she could glare at the guardian.

"Who you calling a rodent, gaki!"

"Gaki! Why you-"

As Kasumi and Pika were absorbed in their battle of wits, whatever was controlling the changing weather seized upon the opportunity they presented. Another bolt of lightning bolt flashed through the sky, this time aiming straight at Kasumi who was now unarmed and unawares.

Satoshi was sparked into action immediately, his body moving almost on its own accord. He rushed to her side, and using his momentum, pushed both of them out of range of the attack, which hit harmlessly where she had previously stood. Laying on top of her now with one arm around her back, and other on the ground supporting his weight, he looked imploringly into her eyes, silently questioning if she was ok.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," he joked sheepishly, realizing they had been in an almost identical position earlier that day.

"Why did you save me?" she asked, her face full of confusion and what almost looked like admiration. "We're supposed to be rivals," she reminded him. "You're not supposed to save me."

He gave her a sweet crooked smile that made her heart stop momentarily. "Maybe I don't want to be your rival, Myst," he whispered quietly, lowering his head towards hers.

She almost didn't know what to think. "Ash, I-"

(A/N: No these are NOT typos!)

"Satoshi-kun!" Ayumi screamed angrily, breaking up the intimate scene that was forming. Their lips had been seconds away form meeting, but after Ayumi's cry the two jumped apart as quickly as possible.

Satoshi glanced up at the sky waiting for an attack. "How can we defeat something we can't even see?" he asked aloud, glaring up at the sky. It was the only thing he could do to stop himself from glaring at Ayumi. All he wanted to do was kiss his rival, and Ayumi had stood in the way of that. He had never wanted anything so much in his life – Kasumi had to be his even if she killed him for thinking so.

He noted the warning flash lit up the sky and quickly called a card to aid them. "Shield!" he called, tapping the card with his sealing ward as he called forth the protective dome that encased all five of them. On instinct he moved closer to Kasumi, and used his body to partly shelter hers as lightning struck the barrier.

"Are you ok?" he asked, glancing down at her.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she growled, backing away quickly. "I am perfectly capable of looking after myself you know, Ketchum. One time is more than enough."

"I know, but . . ." he began, but trailed off as his desperate gaze was met with a look of disdain. "Never mind. I guess next attack is yours."

She rolled her eyes at his suggestion. "It won't attack us now, at least, not while the shield is protecting us. All the times it has attacked have been when we were distracted. It knows we're prepared, so it will look for someone who isn't wai-"

"Otouto-chan?" a voice questioned, cutting her off before she could finish. "Satoshi-kun, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Onee-chan?" Satoshi asked questioningly as he turned towards the source of the voice.

Kasumi also turned to the voice, suddenly aware of thunders target. There sat a girl of seventeen or eighteen with long pink hair and bright blue eyes on a gold coloured mountain bike. She was the perfect target in the eyes of thunder, completely unaware of any attack that might strike, she held a magical aura similar to the card captor's and better still she was seated upon an object sure to conduct the full attack.

"It's her," Kasumi said softly. "It's after her now."

"Huh?" Ash said wondering what she was on about.

"Tell her to get off the bike," Kasumi said suddenly her tone commanding and direct.

"Why?" he asked.

"We're in the middle of a magical thunderstorm," Kasumi used as a quick explanation. "Just tell her to get off the bike. It's not safe."

"Musashi-chan, get off the bike," Satoshi yelled at his sister trusting Kasumi's judgment.

"You twerp, what the hell are you on about now?" Jesse screamed at her little brother moving herself off the bike slightly.

"Please, onee-chan, just trust me," he begged.

Jesse sighed and slowly got off her bike and began to walk away.

"When I say so, lower the shield," she whispered quietly to Satoshi. He nodded slowly, trusting her completely. She closed her eyes, concentrating on building up her power as thunder was. The beast was about to strike and she needed all the magic she held within her to be able to fight back.

"Now," she cried as a bright bolt began to descend from the sky.

"Shield, return!"

"Raitei shourai!" Kasumi commanded, forcing all of her power into a single blast to counter thunder.

Musashi was thrown aside in the blast of the two forces meeting in the middle and knocked unconscious. It was better this way that she didn't know what games her brother had been caught up in.

Riachu, the thunder beast, now in his true form pounced to the ground glaring at the sorcerers through coal black eyes. His hair coursed with electricity standing on end as each waited for the other to make its move.

"You need to hold it down before you can capture it," Pika told him seriously.

Satoshi nodded, fanning the deck in his hands. He began to reach for windy, but saw Takeshi give a brief, almost imperceptible shake of his head. The older boy glanced up at the sky, and Satoshi immediately understood his intent. It had to be a moon card, and windy wouldn't do.

"Shadow!" he called, separating the card from the deck, and activating it as he had the others. "Confine thunder in yourself."

The dark shadows quickly spread towards the beast. They shot up from the ground, taking the creature unawares as they wrapped tightly around the beast, just as the master had instructed.

Satoshi held up his sealing wand once it was clear that thunder would not be free. "Return to the form you were meant to be! Clow card!"

The two cards dispelled, their spirits absorbed into the cards, both of which drifted towards Satoshi who held out his hands to receive them.

"I guess you win," Kasumi said, her voice empty of emotion. "I will accept your appointment," she added, turning her eyes towards Pika-chan.

Satoshi frowned, not liking her dark response. "It's not so bad," he joked, trying to lighten the sombre mood that had fallen upon them. "It's not like you have to be my friend or anything."

"Aren't I the lucky one," she commented sardonically.

"Kasumi-chan," he said gently, ignoring his own manners for the time being, "thank you."

"For what?" she asked, a slight blush staining her cheeks.

"For saving my sister," he replied. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't."

"Just repaying the favour," she said quietly as she slinked away.

"What happened?" Musashi asked as she finally woke up in a dazed state. Her eyes immediately found their way to her broken bike, which had been thrown to the side like she had in the blast.

"You almost got hit by the lightning," Satoshi lied to her as he helped his sister to her feet. "Let's go home," he suggested to which she agreed.

"Let's," she agreed. As she closed her eyes shut for a second a prophesy of the future flashed behind her closed lids.

_'They don't even know what they're fighting for yet,'_ she thought to herself as she and her brother pushed the battered up bike home. _'And for now it's better that way.'_

~ to be continued ~

Next chapter: Kasumi reports back to Hong Kong on her process.

* * *

Notes:

**Knock on Wood:** From the song of the same name. Chorus: _Like thunder. Lightning. The way you love me is frightening . . ._

**Takeshi Nibi**: Brock Slate

**Satoshi Ketchum: **Ash Ketchum.

**Yamato Syoku:** Cassidy (Team Rocket)

**Kasumi Yawa: **Misty Waterflower

**Tangzhuang:** A type of Chinese clothing worn by men and women. Usually has a mandarine collar and fastens at the front. I have a drawing, but it is very difficult to describe what it actually looks like. A bit like what Ranma wears, but this one falls down to the knee.

**Raitei shourai: **Chant to call lightning.

**Ofuda:** Magical parchment.

**Gaki: **brat. Very impolite.

**Otouto-chan: **Little Brother.

**Onee-chan:** Older sister. Informal = 'Nee-chan.

**Musashi Ketchum:** Jesse (Team Rocket).


	3. Better the Devil You Know

**More Than You Think You Are**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Card Captor Sakura.

I've decided to replace the previous chapters of this story with the re-write mostly because I hate that I've got all these chapters just gathering (metaphorical) dust on my computer. Hope you enjoy.

Because that the Pokemon fandom tends to be (for lack of a better word) less Japanese oriented than most anime fandoms, I've got a massive set of notes at the end of the chapter for cross referencing peoples names, Japanese words, and naming conventions. Apparently I was very thorough when I wrote this.

* * *

Summary: AU CCS. Satoshi is a young mage entrusted with the task of collecting the mystical **clow cards**, who for some reason, and despite Kasumi's best efforts, would much rather be Shigeru's rival. As the three battle to collect the cards (aided by Takeshi and Natsume), they begin to wonder if maybe this is not the place they are supposed to be and find that they must each give upsomething important in order to return to their own world and where they belong. **Pokeshipping, Mangashipping & Rocketshipping**.

* * *

More Than You Think You Are - Better the Devil You Know

"Kasumi-sama," her caregiver, Wei, uttered as she walked through the door. "I trust things went as planned."

"Yes," she lied, carefully removing the sword sheathed to her back. "Things are progressing as intended."

"Very good, young mistress," Wei smiled warmly. "Your father is on the phone and will be happy to hear this."

Kasumi cringed. Of course her father was on the phone. She shouldn't have expected anything less. And unlike Wei, her father would not be fooled by her lies.

Wei just smiled at her as he handed over the phone, making her think that maybe he wasn't as easily fooled as she thought. She took a deep breath before addressing the extraordinary man on the other end.

"Maan on, baa," she spoke respectfully, bowing her head out of habit.

"Konbanwa, my little mist," the deep voice of her father replied. "Let us speak in Japanese, Xiao Xia," her father suggested in prefect Japanese. "This way you can practice."

"Un, Otou-san," she replied, grateful for his insistence. She had been nervous about speaking at school knowing that her Japanese was heavily accented and sometimes broken.

"Xiao Xia," he admonished.

"Hai," she corrected bashfully. "Arigatou, Otou-san."

"Very good, my flower," he said warmly. "You sounded just like a native."

"You lie, father," she giggled, "but I will take the compliment anyway."

"How was your first day of school?" he asked, the warmth of his voice easing a smile onto her face.

"It was good, father," she replied. "The teachers are all very nice and the students have been very helpful. I think I shall like Tomoeda very much. Urashi."

"Ureshii," he corrected kindly. "I am glad too. I really do hope you enjoy Nihon, Xiao Xia. Your mother always did."

Kasumi nodded silently.

"Did you enjoy your meeting with the card captor today?" he asked, catching her completely off-guard.

"What meeting, father?" she asked, playing it off sweet and innocent. Her other option had been to fake not understanding the question, but it was all pretty standard Japanese so she knew she wouldn't get away with that. "You mean the card captor goes to my school? I must have ran into him by accident and not even noticed."

"Him?" her father asked, an amused tone in his voice. She should have known better than to try to lie to her father. Jian Yawa was practically all knowing, especially when it came to his four daughters. Kasumi hadn't been able to hide a thing from her father when she was younger, and apparently that hadn't changed.

He took her silence as admission of guilt and continued. "This is not what was intended, Xiao Xia," her father admonished lightly. "You were not supposed to approach Ketchum Satoshi before Pikachu was returned to his true form. Your role as helper was supposed to be a discrete one."

"But, father, after I saw him capture SHADOW, I knew he wouldn't be able to do it without my help," she defended. "If not for me, they would have all been fried by THUNDER."

"Ahh, so that's what that was," he said slowly, the amusement back in his voice. "That was helping. And here I was thinking you were issuing a challenge.

"Your sisters are always telling me how much things have changed since my day," he continued, "but only now I realize how much. In my day helping someone didn't require the helpee to take a defensive position."

Kasumi blushed brightly. She had clearly been found out by her father, although he did not sound displeased by her actions. Overall, he seemed to find the situation very funny. "I'm sorry, father," she apologized abashedly.

"That temper of yours is going to get you in a lot more trouble than this, one of these days, my little mist," he cautioned her, chuckling slightly as he spoke. "There's nothing you can do about it now. Continue as his rival so as not to arouse suspicion from him or his guardian."

"Yes, father," she nodded. "He is strangely powerful. His aura suggests much more power than I've seen him use, but he doesn't know enough to release its full potential."

"Which is where you come in, my flower."

"Daddy, is that, like, mei mei?" she heard a voice in the background question in Cantonese. She cringed at what it foretold.

"Indeed it is, Ying Hau," he replied, reverting back to Cantonese as he addressed her blonde haired, oldest sister.

"Oh, daddy, may we please speak with her?" she heard Chāngpú, the second oldest (a bluenette) plead dramatically. "We've missed her oh so much, daddy."

Kasumi groaned. She had only been gone since last Monday. She silently prayed that her father would not fall for their false sweetness and charms.

"Of course, my dears," he replied. "I'm sure she's been missing you too." Kasumi begged to differ. "I'll talk to you soon, my little mist. Your sisters want a word with you.

"Play nice," he added, although it wasn't entirely clear which among them the warning was intended for. Probably all four.

Kasumi sighed as her father handed the phone over to her three wonderful older sisters – Ying Hau, Chāngpú, and Mudan.

"Oh, Xia Xia, it's like so great to talk to you," her youngest sister (the pink head), Mudan, announced dramatically. This was clearly a show for their father, who Kasumi swore she could hear chuckling amusedly to himself as he left the room. This was obviously some sort of punishment for jumping the bullet with the card captor.

"Yeah, like totally," Chāngpú added absentmindedly. Kasumi guessed that Chāngpú had taken responsibility for watching the door at least until their father was out of sight.

"What's Japan like?" Ying Hau asked actually putting a semblance of effort into the conversation.

"It's nice," Kasumi offered. "It's not as crowded as it is back home, and everyone I've met so far seems really friendly. Wei was talking to some of the townspeople in the market, and they told him all about these festivals they have all the time."

"Wow, that must be a drag," Chāngpú spoke. She clearly wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention, but at the moment Kasumi would consider Chāngpú her favourite sister.

"Is it pretty?" Mudan asked awkwardly, keeping up the pretence in spite of not having anything to say. Had Kasumi been able to see her sisters, she would have seen Ying Hau give the youngest a pointed look, and Mudan return this with a helpless shrug.

"It is," Kasumi replied. "Everything is changing colour with the season, and there are trees everywhere. I bet it's even more beautiful in the springtime. Remember how dad said mum used to come to Japan for the cherry blossom festival. I hope I can be here to see it."

"It sounds nice, Xiao Xia," Ying Hau commented. Cherry blossoms were, after all, her namesakes and she had been named for their mother's love of the pretty pink blossoms. "How are you doing with the new language, mei mei?"

"Ok, I guess," Kasumi shrugged. "I'm ok for writing because it's not too different from Cantonese, but I get nervous when I have to speak in front of people, and I keep making stupid little mistakes if I think too hard about what I'm saying."

"Well, that's like good," Mudan stated. "I mean, like-"

She was suddenly cut off by what sounded like a squeal of happiness from Chāngpú. "So what's he like?" she asked excitedly, interrupting their talk once she was sure enough that their father was out of hearing range.

"What is who like?" Kasumi asked, hoping her sisters weren't asking what she thought they were asking. To think she had actually been having an almost civil conversation with the 'Sensational Yawa Sisters'.

"Oh don't like play dumb with us, Xia Xia," Mudan deadpanned making Kasumi cringe with her second most dreaded nickname, "we're better at it."

"Like obviously," she muttered lowly under her breath.

"I still don't know what you're on about," she said loud enough for the three to hear. "Do you mind trying to be a little clearer? Apparently the telepathic waves of communication don't cross international waters."

Ying Hau sighed. She guessed they were going to have to do this the hard way. "Like the card captor, Xiao Xia. Ketchum Satoshi? Does it ring a bell? We want to know what he's like."

Kasumi blushed brightly at the name spoken aloud. "Geez, why didn't you all just say that to begin with?" she drawled exasperatedly, feigning indifference.

"Don't avoid the question, Xiao Xia," Ying Hau insisted in an almost demanding tone. It would have been much more demanding if not for her sisters strange 'Valley Girl' accent that tainted her speech. Kasumi would forever wonder where her sisters had picked up such a strange trait.

"He's everything you would expect," she answered vaguely. "He has magic. What else is there that matters?"

"I heard he was kind of cute," Mudan spoke haughtily almost making Kasumi drop the phone from surprise. No wonder they hadn't broached the topic until their father had left the room.

"Mudan, daddy like said not to like say anything about that," Chāngpú whispered as if she thought that would stop Kasumi from hearing. Holding the phone away from your mouth usually worked better, but she supposed the thought never occurred to them.

"Oh what daddy doesn't like know can't hurt us," Mudan replied in the same haughty tone.

Kasumi had to hold her breath just to hold in that sarcastic chortle waiting to come out at her sister's last statement. It was just so oblivious of them. Their father was one of the most powerful sorcerers/magicians alive today; there wasn't anything he didn't know and if there was, this certainly wasn't it.

"So, Xiao Xia, is he?" Ying Hau asked, knocking Kasumi from her thoughts.

"Is he what?" Kasumi answered, this time honestly oblivious to what it was they were trying to find out. She had been so busy trying not to laugh out loud at her sisters' stupidity that she had missed a large chunk of their explanation.

There was an exasperated sigh, which could of come from any of the three, before Mudan eventually spoke. "Satoshi? Cute?" she stated. "Does it like ring a bell?"

"Cute?" Kasumi scoffed. She supposed that he was mildly attractive in a rough sort of way. He had a lean athletic figure and boyish good looks that could be admired from far away. And up close he had the most enchanting pair of chocolate brown eyes she had ever seen. She had found herself lost in them on more than one occasion that day.

Not that she was looking or anything. She just . . . hadn't been able to look away.

"Answer the question, Xiao Xia," Changpu demanded.

"I suppose if you like that sort of thing," she replied flippantly, trying to ignore the voice in her head.

_'Which you do,'_ the voice taunted, seemingly taking pleasure in the blush that streaked across her cheeks. So maybe she found him a little more than 'mildly attractive', but did the voices in her head have to be so goddamn sanctimonious about it?!

Ying Hau seemed to have the same thought. "If you like asked me," she announced smugly, "I'd say that Ketchum Satoshi is like exactly your type, and that you, Yawa Xiao Xia, have a total crush on him. That's why you just _had _to approach him before the set time. That's why you challenged him for the cards. And that's why no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to keep yourself away from him."

"What?!" she practically screamed into the mouth piece, her face contorting at the triumph in her sister's tone of voice.

"You know like, now that you mention it," Mudan agreed, "it does kind of like seem that way."

"Oh my gosh, like this is so cute," Changpu joined in excitedly.

"Mei mei has a boyfriend!" Mudan squealed happily.

"Ketchum Satoshi is NOT my boyfriend and I do NOT have a crush on him!" Kasumi exclaimed loudly hoping that maybe it would knock some kind of sense into them.

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt you know, Xia Xia," Mudan intoned seriously.

"I'm not in denial," Kasumi exclaimed. "I don't even like him as a person, let alone as . . . like that! I hate him and everything he represents. You three are just crazy."

"Satoshi and Xiao Xia up a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G," they began to chorus together. "First comes love. Then comes marriage . . ."

"Tell daddy I said goodnight," Misty muttered angrily to her sisters before hanging up the phone.

"Hmm," Ying Hau hummed thoughtfully to the sound of the dial tone. "I guess she didn't like our singing."

* * *

Satoshi frowned as he examined the Clow card held in his grasp, turning it every which way and examining it from every angle. Although it looked as though his thoughts were on the card it self, it was really on the girl who helped him capture it and the card had merely become a vehicle for those thoughts.

The magical seal on the card was a combination of two things – the Clow magic that came from the sealing wand and incantation; and the magic that defeated it. Satoshi knew his own magic well – it was warm, and red, and always seemed alive like fire. It was Kasumi's magic that had him so interested. Hers was like water, softly swirling over the surface of the card when he closed his eyes. When he touched it, the magic accommodated his fingertips like a pool of water and was cool to the touch.

He . . . he liked the way that her magic felt, although it didn't sound right to say so. It didn't seem like the right words to describe it, but nothing really seemed to fit.

He could say it felt comforting, but that seemed too far off what he meant. It didn't seem strong enough. Maybe . . . soothing, but even that wasn't right. It wasn't that her magic put him at ease, so much as . . . something else.

Maybe it was a feeling of familiarity, as though it was something he knew. In truth, Kasumi felt like a home he had always longed for but never known, but those were not his words, nor were they words he was familiar with.

His own words seemed to fall short of what he meant. He didn't know what else to say about it, other than that he liked the way her magic felt.

And that he shouldn't.

Pika said magic was like energy, and different types of energy repel. Their magic was as different as fire and water; as different as the sun and moon. The last thing he should have been feeling from her magic was comfort or warmth. It should have been like a shock of static electricity (that would be the first warning to keep away) or a chill down his spine.

He turned the card over again, closing his eyes to see it in his magical sight. That way he could see every piece of magic that went into it: a swirl of electric blue where Kasumi had hit it with her lightning attack; a haze of red where he had put up the shield, and a substantial spread of red where shadow had confined it; and Clow's dark navy in the centre. At one point, the two energies appeared to merge together, and he wondered what it represented.

"You seem awfully interested in that card," Pika commented, looking up form the bottle of ketchup he had been thoroughly absorbed in.

"I'm not. I mean-" Satoshi began to protest, but cut himself of when a look from Pika told him the truth was so much worse than what he had originally been defending. "It's just . . . I've never met anyone else with magic before," he lied hoping that Pika would be fooled.

"I suppose, what with her magic being so different from yours," Pika said, seeming to accept that explanation. "Her magical signature is quite similar to Clow's, although lighter I think."

Satoshi nodded in agreement.

"Satoshi!" his mother called as she forced the door open. Using his quick reflexes, Satoshi quickly hid Pika and the Thunder card under his blanket. "Are you ok, honey?" she asked warmly. "I called you four times for dinner."

"Uh . . . yeah. I'm sorry, Okaa-san," he apologised. "I was just thinking about something."

Hanako gave him a sympathetic smile and joined him on the bed. "Something you want to talk about, Toshi?" she asked him kindly.

Satoshi sighed, quickly relenting and telling his mother as much as he could about his day at school with Kasumi without giving away his magic. He choose his words carefully, wanting to paint Kasumi in the best possible light so that his mother wouldn't think any less of her.

His mother gave him another warm smile. "It sounds to me like you two got off to a bad start, but I'm sure you can change that, dear," she encouraged, squeezing his shoulders tenderly. "Everything will surely be all right."

"Thanks, Ma," Satoshi replied, his mother's words lighting his mood almost immediately.

"Now come on," she said as she stood up. "Musashi-chan is probably wondering where we went, and if we don't hurry Kojiro-san will have eaten us out of house and home."

"Hai, mama," he agreed. "Just give me a second." He waited until his mother left the room, and then carefully pried the card from it's hiding place, studying it one last time before returning it to the deck with the rest of the sealed cards. As he left the room, he repeated his mother's parting words with a small, hopeful smile tugging on his lips.

_"Zettai daijoubu dayo._"

~ to be continued ~

Next chapter: Kasumi captures a card. Well . . . sort of.

* * *

Notes:

**Maan on, baa: **Good evening, Father. Formal. Cantonese.

**Konbanwa: **Good evening. Japanese.

**Xiao Xia: **Kasumi's Chinese name meaning 'little mist'.

**Un:** Yes. Informal.

**Otou-san:** Father. Japanese.

**Hai:** Yes.

**Arigatou:** Thank you.

**Ureshii: **I am glad.

**Jian Yawa** and **Xiao Hau Yawa: **OC. Kasumi's parents. Jian means 'strong' or 'healthy'. Xiao Hau means 'little flower'.

**Mei mei: **Little sister, Cantonese.

**Ying Hau Yawa:** Daisy Waterflower (Sakura in Japanese).

**Chāngpú**** Yawa: **Violet Waterflower (Ayame in Japanese).

**Mudan Yawa: **Lily Waterflower (Botan in Japanese).

**Hanako Ketchum: **Delia Ketchum

**Musashi Ketchum: **Jesse (Team Rocket)

**Kojiro Tsuki: **James (Team Rocket)

**Zettai daijoubu dayo: **It will all be alright. Japanese. AKA Sakura's invincible spell.


	4. The Quick and the Dead

**More Than You Think You Are**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Card Captor Sakura.

I've decided to replace the previous chapters of this story with the re-write mostly because I hate that I've got all these chapters just gathering (metaphorical) dust on my computer. Hope you enjoy.

Because that the Pokemon fandom tends to be (for lack of a better word) less Japanese oriented than most anime fandoms, I've got a massive set of notes at the end of the chapter for cross referencing peoples names, Japanese words, and naming conventions. Apparently I was very thorough when I wrote this.

* * *

Summary: CCS AU. Satoshi is a young mage entrusted with the task of collecting the mystical **clow cards**, who for some reason, and despite Kasumi's best efforts, would much rather be Shigeru's rival. As the three battle to collect the cards (aided by Takeshi and Natsume), they begin to wonder if maybe this is not the place they are supposed to be and find that they must each give upsomething important in order to return to their own world and where they belong. **Pokeshipping, Mangashipping & Rocketshipping**.

* * *

More Than You Think You Are - The Quick and the Dead

_'Punch. Kick. Block. Parry,_' Kasumi called in her mind as she hit Wei with a complicated combination of kicks and punches. Wei, a martial arts master in his own right, blocked every move, which was unsurprising given he was the one who taught her to fight in the first place.

She tried a new combination she had been working on, catching her trainer off-guard by faking a punch to the left before following her feign with a high kick to the right.

"Very good, young mistress," Wei praised as he ducked under her leg at the last moment and caught the cross punch that followed it. "Good power in that kick, but you gave yourself away when you moved your weight back during that first punch in order to deliver it. A good opponent can guess your next move simply by the way you hold your weight."

"Thank you, Wei-san," she replied bowing respectfully as she took heed of his words. She would have to work some more on the combination to make the shift imperceptible, even to an eye as well trained as Wei's.

"Shall I prepare us some breakfast?" Wei asked. "You have been working very hard this morning, young mistress."

"As I must," Kasumi answered simply, unsheathing her sword as she spoke. The jian glinted in the early morning sun, shimmering almost eerily in the light.

Wei shook his head sorrowfully as he watched her slice gracefully through the air, the blade not even making a sound as she controlled it to do her bidding. The sword had belonged to her father and his father before him, passing through successive generations of Yawa heirs for many years.

The sword had almost no weight in her hands – it was a comfort to hold and she wielded it as though it was a part of herself. The blade was long, extending almost three feet beyond its users appendage, and made of polished steel. The hilt was large enough for two hands, made of fluted wood and finished with gold leaf and lacquer. A bright emerald was lodged in the base, adjusting the weight distribution that was so finely tuned in the instrument. A gold tassel hung off the end.

It was a beautiful thing, expertly crafted for its purposes and attuned to its user. Like anything handed down through the Yawa clan, it was a magical item and as such was marked with the two characters of her name: 小霞. It would remain so marked until the next heir was born and the sword passed on to its new master. This, although it was not known by anyone at the time (except maybe the sword itself) would be a little boy, named Xiao Zhi after his Japanese father and adored by his Chinese mother.

Kasumi took on an attack stance with her left foot and shoulder forward, knees slightly bent and weight evenly spread. She raised her sword up above her head, the narrowed tip angled at the ground before her. She balanced the edge of the blade against her fingertip and closed her eyes. Her senses were on alert as she listened for the tiniest movement: the buzz of an insect in their neighbours garden, an alarm clock going off somewhere down the street, a butterfly beating its wings up above her, a faucet dripping somewhere in the house, and . . . a whimper?

Her eyes shot open at the unexpected cry. The rest of it was just noise and nothing else, but the whimper was definitely new and worth noticing. She closed her eyes, letting her magical sense guide her to its source. She saw the creature outlined in magic, and began cautiously moving towards it as she held her sword defensively across her chest.

A bush rustled as she moved closer. "It's alright," she said calmly, slowly lowering her sword to the ground as she approached the bush. "I'm not going to hurt you," she promised.

The creature stilled as she came closer, her hands pulling back the cover of branches to reveal a bright golden yellow creature with sharply bristled fur, a white mane around its neck and long pointed ears. Its dark eyes were almost violet in colour as it mewed softly in pain.

She submissively reached her hand towards it, urging the creature to come closer. "Come here, sweetheart," she cooed softly.

The creature got up slowly and limped towards her, holding up his left paw and refusing to put any weight on it. There was no blood, but Kasumi noted what looked like the shaft of a broken arrow jutting out of it. He had clearly been the victim of some sort of attack, and she could only guess who the perpetrator might have been.

Slowly, Kasumi gathered the timid creature in her arms. It was only about two feet tall at most and fitted comfortably into her embrace. It nuzzled her cheek gently to show his gratitude, and Kasumi in turn gave a soft smile of encouragement to the golden creature.

"Mistress, breakfast is-" Wei began as she walked into the room. "Oh dear," he gasped as he noted the bundle in his mistress' arms.

"I found him in the garden," Kasumi explained. "He's injured."

"I see, young mistress," Wei agreed. "Stay here and I'll prepare some things."

"Thank you, Wei-san," she replied, attempting to bow with the creature in her arms. "It's alright," she whispered as the creature let out a quiet cry. "We'll get you all fixed up, Jolteon. You'll be fine in no time."

Kasumi didn't even question where the name had come from, or the fact that the creature responded to it as though it were correct. It wasn't a name she had been taught, at least not as far as she knew, but somehow it seemed as though it just _fit_ and it seemed inappropriate to call him anything else.

"Come, mistress," Wei called moments later as he returned, "I've set things up in the spare room. Do you think-"

"It's the only thing that could do this sort of damage," Kasumi replied quickly, knowing Wei's question before he even finished it.

"And what will you do with him?" Wei asked.

Kasumi just shrugged. For now it didn't matter. She'd deal with that hurdle when it came along, but for now her only concern was getting Jolteon back to full health. Oh, and avoiding a certain card captor at all costs, but that was an unrelated matter to do with proving her ever-loving sisters wrong.

Easy as pie.

At least, it would be if she hadn't forgotten to account for a rather unpredictable and momentous factor: Ketchum Satoshi.

* * *

_"Ash," he heard his mother call, causing him to jump to attention. Satoshi had given up on trying to protest with people that he wasn't this Ash person they thought he was, and decided to simply go with the flow._

_It wasn't so bad in this dream world. And it didn't seem so bad being 'Ash' for a little while at least. Nothing too bad had happened to him, and even though they all insisted on calling him 'Ash', everyone was pretty much the same._

_Tak was here, although everyone called him 'Brock'. He still chased after almost anything in a skirt – even Satoshi's own mother he somewhat suspected with a shudder – and he was still pretty much incapable of ever getting a girlfriend. Tak was older here, but it made sense because Takeshi always seemed more mature than the rest of them._

_Kenji was there too, and had what Satoshi suspected was the gayest name ever: Tracey Sketchit. He was still a head-band wearing artist, and he still had a disturbing 'man-crush' on Okido-sama (who was there too, but called Professor Oak and he had a grandson who didn't seem particularly nice to Satoshi)._

_Onee-san was there too. Everyone called Onee-san 'Jesse' here, and apparently they weren't related, but she was still his jerky older sister, only worse here without the familial bonds restraining her. She still spent almost all her time with Kojiro (who was called James and seemed kind of gay by all indications)._

_"There you are, honey," his mother, Delia, said as she entered the room. "You've got to get downstairs. Misty will be here any minute."_

_Satoshi nodded and followed her out. As far as he could tell, they were throwing Misty (Kasumi to Satoshi) some sort of surprise party, and he had to admit that he was more than a little excited. He liked that Kasumi/Misty was around a lot in his dreams, even though they weren't the same._

_Kasumi and Misty had the same fiery temper, outgoing nature and arrogant attitude, but their similarities seemed to end there. Misty was warm and caring, and even selfless at times, where as Kasumi was completely aloof and colder than an iceberg. Where Misty was teasing (Brock had called it flirting), Kasumi was vindictive and condescending. Where Misty was carefree and almost bubbly, Kasumi was indifferent._

_"Surprise!" his friends all called, knocking Satoshi from his thoughts. He tried to pretend like he had been attending all along, but the raised eyebrow Misty sent him told him that at least one person was not fooled by his act._

_"I can't believe you, Ash Ketchum," she sighed dramatically. "I came all this way, and you couldn't even pay attention long enough for me to arrive."_

_"I'm sorry, Myst," Satoshi offered, noting the way this version always smiled whenever he called her that. "I was thinking about something."_

_"Oh really," she replied teasingly, a note of scepticism in her voice. "And what, pray tell, were you thinking about?"_

_"You actually," he answered honestly, figuring that he had no reason to lie in this dream world._

_"You were thinking about me?" she asked, her demeanour becoming coy and her blue-green eyes sparkling in the most alluring way._

_"Yeah," he replied awkwardly. "Sort of."_

_"What in particular?" she asked quietly, moving closer to him._

_"Just stuff," he answered. "How you're not like other people?"_

_"In a good way?" she questioned, glancing up at him through her lashes. He didn't need Brock or Takeshi to tell him that was most definitely flirting. Even he wasn't that oblivious._

_"In a good way, Msyt," he smiled. He admittedly preferred this version of her and wished the real Kasumi would be more like that. The two were identical on the outside, but it was Misty's internal beauty that stood her apart from Kasumi who he reckoned he desired more than he actually liked. Misty was someone who he could see himself being friends with and caring for. It sparked an attraction._

_"Ash, you know we'll be best friends no matter what," she offered quietly, looking shyly down at her feet, "but I just need you to know something._

_"Ash, I lo-"_

* * *

Satoshi sat up suddenly in his bed, eyes shooting open and all senses on high alert. "Clow card," he whispered lowly, his mouth working before his mind was even conscious enough to comprehend what the words meant. Pika, too, was alerted by his announcement and eagerly coaxed the young teen out of bed.

It was early Sunday morning – too early to wake up his two friends to join in the adventure. He knew how much Ayumi coveted her 'beauty sleep' and Sunday's were pretty much the only day that Takeshi got to relax given his massive family. Today it would be just him and Pika, although a part of him secretly hoped that Kasumi would be there. His rival seemed to have quite a knack for sensing magic, especially his it seemed. He was surprised by how attuned she seemed to be to his aura.

The pair followed the general feeling of magic to one of the more built up areas in Tomoeda. He doubted that the card would come out and fight him in the middle of the street like this, and so Satoshi was forced to do something he rarely had to rely on in his card capturing. With most of the cards, it was usually just the simple matter of being in the right place and the card would attack on instinct, drawn as it was to any magical being that should cross his path. It wasn't often that he had to rely on his magical sense to search out a card.

"Just focus," Pika coached as Satoshi closed his eyes and honed in on his magic sense.

Satoshi was subconsciously aware of a brilliant sapphire aura nearby, and Pika-chan's bright yellow magic, along with a murky jade green that seemed to be doing everything in its power to remain hidden. But this awareness was masked as he urged his focus towards a particular type of magic: to the neutral white that the cards would hold until they were sealed. Once sealed, the cards would take on the magical signature of the one that wielded them, but until then, the neutral white signature told anyone looking for them that they were fair game.

"It's that way," Satoshi said, raising his hand to point at the single most bizarre house he had seen in all of Tomoeda. Looking at it, he really wasn't all that surprised that this was where the Clow card had chosen for a hideout.

Except for the area closet to the temple (which was largely a tourist area anyway) the vast majority of the town was fashioned in European style architecture with just the occasional Japanese flourish. Occasionally a Westerner would move into the area and produce a garish erection they termed 'fusion architecture' by combining the most incompatible elements of each culture, but these rarely lasted long. The house before him was neither European nor fusion; it was a fully traditional, two-storey pagoda smack dab in the middle of the one of the most Westernized suburbs within Tomoeda.

On the awnings hung several traditional lanterns and various Buddhist talismans adorned them. If Satoshi had taken the time to think about it, he would have realised this was not merely a Japanese house in western suburbia, but a Chinese one. Instead he joked aloud that it probably still had rice paper walls and dirt floors, and wondered if the occupants still slept on the traditional futon.

"Don't knock the futon," Pika answered back in a jocular tone as the two crept towards the house. Their actions were awkward and jerky, and you could only hope it was some sort of impersonation of the worst sneakers ever. It was lucky for the pair that it was still early as a teenage boy and his animated soft toy darting behind trees as they hummed the 'Mission Impossible' theme song would not have gone unnoticed in this neighbourhood.

They darted around the side of the house to try on of the side doors – if the dwelling really was anything like the temple, it would have sliding doors on the side, which would only require a little jiggling to open. They were correct in this summation, but before Satoshi had the chance to confirm the theory, the door was slid open to reveal a cheerful, older gentleman with a bushy, grey moustache.

He smiled gently and Satoshi and Pika, who had flopped onto Satoshi's shoulder and played the despised role of stuffed animal.

"Konichiwa," the man greeted with a bow from the waist.

"O-oh-hayo," Satoshi responded awkwardly, parroting the gentleman's action. Pika had to hold on for dear life as Satoshi bent a little too far forward in his gesture.

The gentleman smiled again, amusement evident in his eyes. "Are you here from the school?" he asked, giving Satoshi the opening he needed. Satoshi and Pika's 'B&E' plan had been defeated, and with no time to think of a plan B (minus the 'E' part) he just nodded dumbly, hoping the kind looking gentleman would not ask him to prove his identity.

"Good," he nodded with that same amused smile. "I'm glad you are able to help us lay the mats. The mistress and I are not from Japan, so we weren't sure how it should be done."

Satoshi continued to nod, not trusting his voice with the lie.

The man let out a low chuckle that was not noticed by Satoshi or Pika. "If you don't mind," he continued in an almost nonchalant tone. "I have to go out for some errands, but I'm sure you will be able to handle things on your own. The mats are in the spare room down the hall, and the mistress will be here if you have any problems."

Satoshi just blinked in wonder as the older gentleman left. "What just happened?" he asked curiously, genuinely shocked by the occurrence.

Pika just shook his head, having no explanation on hand. "At times like this I think it's best not to over analyse the situation," the false form replied. "Just count your blessings and don't question the mysterious ways of fate," he added, throwing in a few dubious clichés for good measure.

Satoshi nodded a little uncertainly, but agreed that it was probably for the best. "Let's just hope we don't run into _'the mistress'_," he said in a sinister voice, thinking of some creature of the calibre of Miss. Havisham . . . or at least he would have if he had been better read. His limited reading list meant he had no cultural reference to measure it against and only a sense that anyone referred to as 'the mistress' couldn't be good.

"Should we . . . uh . . . lay the mats first?" Satoshi asked awkwardly as he moved to what he suspected was the spare room. It wasn't.

Pika face-palmed and shook his head despondently. When Satoshi continued to look befuddled, Pika sighed and uttered a non-committal "maybe later.

"We've got to find the Clow Card!" he added enthusiastically, his body moving energetically with his words.

"Right," Satoshi agreed, putting on his serious face. He closed his eyes once again, sensing the direction the needed to move in. "This way," he said in a very loud whisper. He paused only to call out his staff, before continuing in his poor sneaking.

* * *

Meanwhile . . .

"There you go," she said gently as she wrapped a bandage around the wounded creatures paw. She added a few herbs and magical remedies to speed up the healing process. The creature nuzzled her cheek gratefully, pressing his cold, wet nose to her ear and making her giggle in response.

"I bet that means you're hungry," she suggested with a laugh, seeing the creatures dark eyes light at the suggestion. "What would you like?" she asked as she ran her fingers through the golden fur. Although a response was forthcoming, it was not of any use to the young mage.

Kasumi got out of her seat, deciding that her creature would probably like apples; something in her memory bank was telling her he was very like another creature she adored that had a weakness for the red fruit. _'And ketchup,'_ her mind told her. _'He always did like ketchup.'_

She shook her head to rid herself of the nonsensical thoughts as suddenly her senses pricked, and the thoughts themselves were discarded in the back of her mind.

It was magic. Red, burning, uncontainable magic. The sort of magic that made her shudder involuntarily and her own aura reach out with an almost desperate need. It was magic like no other. Not a Clow Card, but a Card Captor.

It was a feeling that she tried desperately to shake off. Her body seemed to almost hum whenever they were close enough for their auras to touch, and a sudden spark of magic like this made her momentarily forget herself and whatever she was doing.

_'Concentrate!'_ she hissed in her mind, taking a moment to find her centre and return her body to its equilibrium. Her racing heart and heated cheeks reluctantly obeyed, easing her into a sense of normalcy.

"Stay here," she told the golden creature protectively as she reached for her talisman and called her staff into fruition. Jolteon started a little, but she assured him it would be alright as she silently made her way towards the card captor.

Neither he nor Pika had noticed her, largely because she had gone to the trouble to conceal her aura. The pair were creeping clumsily in her direction, each with a comically serious expression on their faces as they jerked into hiding at the slightest noise.

_'I guess that means he's not _completely_ incompetent,'_ she thought drolly, biting back a smile at his adorable goofiness. She decided she was going to have some fun with this while she had the chance.

"Petals of wind, come to my aid," she called quietly as she held an ofuda between her two fingers. She directed the spell in her mind, smiling at the mischief that would ensue. She was sure the elders would not approve of her use, but saw no reason why they would ever have to know.

Satoshi started as he felt a cool breeze chill his spine. He glanced behind, but the space was empty. It was strange. He could have sworn he felt –

He turned back quickly as he felt it again. Something was different in the room, although he couldn't be sure what. He just knew something had been moved by the same powers that had caused a chill to run down his spine momentarily.

And then suddenly there was a loud banging and the shutters around the house flew open, banging noisily around the building.

Pika flew towards the door, searching for any clues. "The card must have escaped," he deduced.

"No," Satoshi disagreed, his voice distant, "it feels like . . . Kasumi . . ."

"Yes?" she replied, standing right in front of him with an impish smile on her face.

"WAAHHH!"

Satoshi jumped back with a cry of surprise. He recovered none to quickly, bowing to cover the blush that covered his cheeks, and uttered a hurried, "Yawa-senpai" to cover his slip.

"W-what a-are you doin-ing h-here?" he stuttered when he finally righted himself.

Kasumi rolled her eyes, tempted to give him a scathing sarcastic reply. "I live here," she said, settling instead on the truth. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Satoshi blushed as realization dawned on him. He was in Kasumi's house. He was in the house of the girl he liked (sort of). "I'm here to lay the mats," he lied, remembering Wei's words from earlier.

"What mats?" Kasumi replied, gesturing to the parts of the ground laid instead with ornate, oriental rugs.

"But the man said . . ." Satoshi began to protest, but trailed off as he met Kasumi's hard glare.

"What are you doing here, Ketchum?" she asked again, more pointedly.

"I sensed a Clow Card," he admitted reluctantly. "I'm here to capture it."

"Here?" Kasumi asked, feigning indifference. "There isn't a card here. I'd know if there was a card here."

"There is," Satoshi insisted. "I sensed it."

Kasumi shrugged, giving him a superior look. "Maybe your magic is off. I'm not really surprised."

Satoshi's cheeks burned, only this time from anger and embarrassment. "I'll show you," he told her making hasty plans for the capture. He barged past her before she even knew what was happening, throwing open the door at the other end of the room. "WINDY!" he called, slamming the Clow wand into the card.

The creature in room started for but a moment, but then it was gone the next, moving faster than anything he had ever seen before.

"You BAKA!" Kasumi cried, throwing an unexpected kick to his side, and knocking the boy down to the ground. She landed on top of him, pinning him as she pounded against his chest in anger. "You moron! You absolute idiot!

"Why did you do that?!" she screamed at him, a blue aura flaring dangerously around her. "What is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me?" Satoshi cried defensively. "What's wrong with you? I'm not the one hiding a Clow Card in my house. What exactly did you plan to do with it?"

"I planned to nurse it back to health and then trick some moron into sealing it," she replied snarkily as she stood to her full height. "DASH is injured, you idiot!" she cried, even louder than before. "He was attacked by one of the other cards, and you sent him running off to god knows where. If he gets injured again, so help me . . ."

"Don't put this on me," Satoshi argued back, jumping to his feet. "You're the one being so secretive. Why couldn't you just have told me that from the start?"

Kasumi scoffed, giving him a sanctimonious look. "Would you have told me?" she asked him, a knowing smirk on her lips. "If you found me sneaking through your house, Clow wand in hand, ready to seal whatever crossed my path, would you tell me you had a card in your room that wouldn't put up a fight?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but ended up shaking his head sheepishly. "Sorry," he said quietly, stepping back from the fighting stance he had unconsciously taken on.

"Yeah, well sorry isn't going to do us much good," she muttered, shaking here head at him. "You've got the sight, right?" she asked, continuing before he could give confirmation. "Well now that you know what card it is, you should be able to tell us exactly where we can find him."

"I don'-"

"Close your eyes," she said, cutting him off. "Focus on everything you know about the DASH. Think of the form. The way it felt. The way it could be used. And when you find it, just build a picture around it."

Satoshi closed his eyes, letting himself be lulled by her soft voice and guided to what he needed. He felt calm and at peace, and strangely content. In his mind's eye, he could see the figure she was leading him to taking shape, and he began to build the picture as she said, the picture gradually coming into focus.

"He's at Penguin Park," he said aloud, his eyes still closed as he studied the scene that unfolded behind his eyes. "And there's another card there but I don't know what it is. I just know it's very near."

His eyes shot open and he ran out to the garden, calling the FLY as he went. Getting himself settled, he turned back to glance at Kasumi, who stood watching with a sad expression.

"Well?" he asked, reaching a hand out towards her.

She gaped, surprised at his gesture. "I thought –"

"You thought wrong," he said simply, waiting for her to climb on the staff behind him. "Hold on," he said before the powerful wings of the FLY propelled them into the air. He grinned as he felt her arms slip around him from behind and her body press closely to his – he had meant to hold on to the wand, but he certainly wouldn't be complaining.

Soon they were hovering over Penguin Park looking for a clear place to land. The park was conveniently empty, and so he had the card land them near to the swing set.

A high yelp sounded as their feet touched the ground, and Kasumi was immediately racing off in the direction, crying a strange name that was oddly familiar to him. She ran undauntedly into the trees, finding her way into a small clearing where Dash lay, whimpering in pain. She barely noticed the other figure in the clearing before gathering Dash in her arms and uttering words of comfort in a low voice.

A tall and sinuous figure dressed in a black jumpsuit viewed the scene indifferently, raising his hands gracefully to mimic the gestures of an expert archer and locking the magical pair in his sights. Waiting to have his turn with the card captor had been such a bore, and so this particular card had turned to a bit of sport. He was enjoying hunting the timid little DASH across the sleepy town, although he never meant to hurt it.

He took aim, releasing a shower of projectiles, only to be thwarted as a screen of light encased the pair. Sensing more magic, the card turned its gaze upon the potential card master, making a silent assessment of the boy.

"Go THUNDER," Satoshi called, calling upon his latest capture, and in a rare offensive move, directing the THUNDER to strike the card opposite them. The card responded with another barrage of projectiles, and Satoshi barely managed to avoid them as the card was struck by a thunderbolt.

"Go WOOD!" he called, summoning a second card. "Trap the card in your vines!"

A bulbous creature appeared in front of them, summoned from the WOOD card. Two vines shot out of its back, winding their way around the prone form of the attacking card. Once the card was secured, Satoshi made his final move.

"Clow Card, return to the form you were meant to be," he commanded as he held the Clow wand poised in the air. A strong wind swirled around him as the magic collected in front of him, and the spirit was sealed into card.

"SHOT," he read aloud, wondering why the spirit seemed so sinister when manifest, when the image he held in his hand looked rather amiable. With a quick shrug he remembered more pressing matters and recalled the SHIELD and moved quickly to his rival's side.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his eyes roving over her for any signs of injury.

She almost smiled at his misdirected concern. It was difficult to hate the boy when he was being sweet like this.

"Can you seal him?" she asked, indicating to the golden creature in her arms.

"Will he be okay if I do?" Satoshi asked with a frown. She nodded, and without further encouragement, he did as he was asked.

Unsurprisingly, the DASH card floated back to Kasumi, not because she expended more magic in defeating it, but because that was where the card wanted to be. Satoshi could not begrudge such a decision – he knew that if there was one place he wanted to be, it was in Kasumi's arms.

"Do you . . . uh . . . want a lift?" he asked awkwardly, holding the Clow wand out for her inspection.

Kasumi shook her head, giving him a sweet sort of smile that made him wonder if he'd died and gone to heaven. "Four cards in one day," she mused, her expression curling into a smirk. "Be careful you don't wear yourself out, Sato-chan," she teased, giving him an impish wink before turning on her heal and walking out of the clearing.

He sighed as she disappeared, part of him wishing she'd taken him up on his offer, and the other wishing he'd simply stayed in bed that morning. If today had taught him anything, it was that Kasumi was much more than meets the eye. She was still rude, and competitive, and vindictive, but she was also compassionate, teasing and sweet.

And if all that was true, then Satoshi had lost his last defence.

Now he had no way of stopping him self from falling in love with Kasumi Yawa.

~ to be continued ~

Next chapter: Satoshi and Kasumi must team up to save Ayumi

* * *

Extra: Outside, Wei couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the pair. His master in Hong Kong had warned him that the card captor might be visiting, and that he was to allow him some time _alone_ with the young mistress. Seeing the young boy in person – and of course sensing his magic – Wei wondered if maybe Jian Yawa had plans for his youngest daughter and the card captor that had nothing to do with the cards themselves.

* * *

Notes:

**Jian:** A type of Chinese sword. Yes, it is also a name.

**Xiao Zhi: **'Little Wisdom' and that's all I'm going to say on that, although I think it was none too subtle regardless.


	5. Cutting it Close

**More Than You Think You Are**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Card Captor Sakura.

24/3/13: I've decided to replace the previous chapters of this story with the re-write mostly because I hate that I've got all these chapters just gathering (metaphorical) dust on my computer. Hope you enjoy.

Because that the Pokemon fandom tends to be (for lack of a better word) less Japanese oriented than most anime fandoms, I've got a massive set of notes at the end of the chapter for cross referencing peoples names, Japanese words, and naming conventions. Apparently I was very thorough when I wrote this.

* * *

Summary: AU CCS. Satoshi is a young mage entrusted with the task of collecting the mystical **clow cards**, who for some reason, and despite Kasumi's best efforts, would much rather be Shigeru's rival. As the three battle to collect the cards (aided by Takeshi and Natsume), they begin to wonder if maybe this is not the place they are supposed to be and find that they must each give upsomething important in order to return to their own world and where they belong. **Pokeshipping, Mangashipping & Rocketshipping**.

* * *

More Than You Think You Are - Cutting it Close

_Satoshi had always enjoyed his sleep, but thanks to his current dream and real life obsession, he had come to look forward to sleep far more than usual. He had even gone to sleep an hour earlier simply because that might mean more time with Misty (and by Satoshi's logic, more time with Kasumi)._

_Misty rolled her eyes at him, a pretty smile pulling at her lips. "Ash, you're staring," she told him in a bland tone. Despite her tone, he knew she appreciated his staring simply by the way her lips quirked and the fact that she hadn't mallet-ed him for it. Both Misty and Kasumi were exceedingly violent._

_"Sorry," he apologized, although he didn't really mean it. "Whatcha you doin', Myst?" he asked, leaning closer to get a peak at whatever it was she was attempting._

_"You mean 'why aren't I paying attention to you'?" she retorted, which in truth was exactly what he meant. "I was trying to make a crane," she said, lifting a piece of brightly coloured paper in his direction, "but I'm not very good at it."_

_"I can help," he replied eagerly. "I'm really good at making cranes and stuff. And Tak even taught me how to make these frogs that hop if you press on them. He's really good at origami."_

_"Who's Tak?" Misty asked, tilting her head imploringly to the side._

_"Never mind," he said quickly and waved off her question. "So, can I help?"_

_"I don't know," she replied reluctantly. "They were kinda . . . a gift."_

_"A gift for me?" He smiled broadly as she nodded her head reluctantly. "You know there's a tradition that says if you gift someone one hundred paper cranes, then that person will fall in love with you for one hundred days," he told her absently as he took a piece of paper from her hand._

_Misty gaped at him. "H-how do you know that?"_

_He shrugged. "We should try and make a thousand," he told her. "I'll make five hundred and you'll make five hundred and then we'll give them to each other and put them together. If we make a thousand then we get a wish."_

_"A thousand cranes?" Misty frowned, struggling as she was to make just one._

_"It's not that much. Just think of it as ten times one hundred," he added, hoping she might understand what he was implying. "And then I'll give you mine and you'll give me yours and we'll have a thousand paper cranes."_

_"And what will you wish for, Ash?"_

_"I don't know," he shrugged, meeting her eyes with a meaningful stare, "but I'm sure it will come true."_

* * *

"What are you doing, Satoshi-kun?" Ayumi asked. For the second time in as many weeks, she and Takeshi had both been shocked to find Satoshi at school at a reasonable time. It was even more shocking today, because Satoshi had actually been the first to arrive at school and was currently sitting at his desk working diligently away with some coloured pieces of paper.

Satoshi gave her a confused stare, assuming his actions were completely obvious. "I'm making paper cranes," he answered plainly, going back to his intricate folding work immediately.

Takeshi held back a laugh. "I think what Ayumi-chan meant to ask was _why_ are you making paper cranes?" he reiterated, curious himself as to Satoshi's explanation.

"Oh," Satoshi replied. "I'm making them because I had a dream about making paper cranes and decided I should make some," he said. He thought it best not to explain his motives further or the fact that he intended to make as many cranes as possible and then give them to Kasumi every hundred days so that she would love him forever – it seemed a tad on the obsessive side, not to mention terribly un-masculine.

"You know, Satoshi-kun," Ayumi said, lowering her voice, "if you give one hundred cranes to the person you like, legend says that person will love you for one hundred days. Or more."

"Really?" Satoshi replied and attempted to sound disinterested. He lifted his eyes from his work as he felt a familiar aura nearby and looked up just in time to see Kasumi enter the room. She frowned at seeing him there, with his friends positioned around her desk and gave them all a pointed look as she went to place her things at the back of the classroom. By the time she headed back to her desk, the rest of them had all scattered.

"You're here early," she noted as she took the seat in front of him, barely turning her head to face him.

"It happens sometimes," he shrugged. "Can't be late all the time."

"I suppose," she answered. "That one's pretty."

Satoshi glanced across his desk where about ten different cranes of various colours and sizes were laid out. All of them were well made and attractive in some sense, but he knew instantly which Kasumi meant.

"Here you go," he said gently and leaned forward to place a blue and white crane upon her desk.

She inclined her head more towards him, but continued to face her body forwards as she protested. "I can't take it. You'll have to make an extra one to replace it and you're only one hundredth of the way there."

Satoshi shrugged. "It's not so bad if you think of it in hundreds," he told her. "I'm a tenth of the way to being a tenth of the way there."

If he had been able to see her face, he would have been able to see the gentle smile that pulled at her lips and the way her eyes softened. "I'll make you a replacement," she said quietly as Ivy-sensei entered the room, preventing them from discussing it any further.

Satoshi grinned, feeling as though he had achieved some sort of small victory today, even though he had no idea what it was.

* * *

Whatever small victory that had been achieved that morning had been completely lost by lunch time. His attempt to try and wave Kasumi to their lunch table had resulted in her doing a deliberate turn away from him and plonking herself down at the table of some girl that he didn't recognize.

"Whose that Ka – Yawa-senpai is sitting with?" he asked aloud, watching from across the room as the two talked affably. He couldn't help but feel envious of the person, wishing that Kasumi would talk even half as kindly to him.

"Who?" Takeshi asked as he looked up from his pile of food, his dark eyes meeting a pair of crystal blue for just a moment. "You mean Yamabuki-san?"

"Yamabuki-san?" Satoshi replied, scratching the back of his head and some how feeling as though was out of the loop.

"Yamabuki Natsume," Takeshi explained further, rolling his eyes. "She's in our class."

"She is?" Satoshi frowned. He didn't remember ever seeing her before this moment, and yet she seemed strangely familiar.

"She sits one seat over from Kenji-kun," Ayumi cut in, agreeing with Takeshi.

"Okay," Satoshi replied, accepting their conclusion that Natsume was indeed in their class, even though he couldn't be sure either way. He wanted to argue the point further, claim that this was the first time any of them had seen this girl, and yet, at the same time, something outside himself told him that she had been in his class sitting one seat over from Kenji Seki for the past three years. For some reason, it didn't bother him that he didn't remember her like he should of, and his mind wouldn't let him dwell on it further.

Kasumi, on the other hand, found herself conversing quite pleasantly with Natsume. She preferred her to a lot of the other girls in their class who tried to emulate American trends and ways of speaking in the same way as her sisters. Natsume was bright and intelligent, and generally indifferent to what was going on around her.

"I love your necklace, by the way," Natsume noted, jarring Kasumi away from her thoughts. "It's so kawaii and unusual. It looks so antique. Where did you get it?"

Kasumi's hand went immediately to her neck, feeling the white gold chain towards the pendant hanging from her neck. She didn't remember putting a necklace on that morning, and what was hanging from her neck felt sharp and unfamiliar.

"Thanks," she replied with an awkward smile, knowing exactly what it was. "It's been in my family for a very long time.

"Excuse me," she said, standing abruptly from her seat. She turned awkwardly in the direction she knew Satoshi was sitting – she'd felt him staring at her all through the lunch break and could easily pin point his location from the chilling sensation of being looked at – letting him catch her eye for just a moment before walking away. Satoshi immediately understood the significance and stood to follow her.

"Satoshi-kun," Ayumi said, trying to prevent him from disappearing after the redhead once again. He paused for a moment, but didn't let her deter him as he spotted Kasumi darting around a corner. He said nothing more as he chased after Kasumi, leaving a fuming Ayumi to contemplate just what the meant.

He wasn't all that surprised when Kasumi once again led him to a deserted part of the high school.

"What is it, Myst?" he asked, concern heavy in his voice.

She frowned, not liking the way her heart fluttered just that tiny bit at the sound of the dreaded nickname from his lips. "Don't," she ordered him. "Nothing's changed. I am not your friend, Ketchum, so don't."

She almost felt guilty when she saw his expression fall, but she wouldn't let herself forget her instructions. Her father told him she was to be his rival, and despite any conception that Satoshi might have to the contrary, she couldn't be his rival and be his friend. It could only be one or the other, and for the sake of her clan, it had to be rival, not friend.

"I'd hate to have given you the wrong impression," she muttered flippantly. "This is nothing more than a courtesy call," she explained to him as she reached behind and unclasped the necklace from around her neck. She held it out in front of him, allowing him to examine the thing as a whole. The whole thing was made of white gold, with an ornate pendant decorated with precious stones. The pendant was a rapier, probably based on High Renaissance designs, with a beautiful blue sapphire mounted to its hilt, and a diamond in the tip. It was very sharp and delicate, and under ordinary circumstances she would have thought it the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"It's nice," Satoshi replied with a shrug, wondering how she could go from telling him they weren't even friends to wanting to show off her jewellery to him in less than a second. Girls were strange, and Kasumi even more so.

"It's not mine," she replied, rolling her eyes. "I've never seen this necklace before in my life, but apparently I've been wearing it all day," she told him snidely. She paused, allowing him to fit together the relevant conclusions for himself.

Cautiously he reached towards the pendant, half-expecting her to drag it out of his reach. His hand brushed against Kasumi's for a second, and there was a brief jolt of electricity, overshadowed, however, by the huge sense of energy from the pendant itself.

"Clow card?" he asked her, his voice almost reverent.

Kasumi nodded wordlessly as she pulled the necklace away and placed it in the front pocket of her backpack. "Glad you agree with me on that," she said quickly, "but like I said, this was just courtesy call. I'll let you know if things get more complicated."

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at her sceptically. "Haven't we had this conversation before?" he asked her. "You need me remember," he said with a smug smile. "You can't seal it yourself, Kasumi, so what exactly do you plan to do with it in the meantime."

"For all intents and purposes, it iss sealed," she replied to him. "It needs to be activated, and I have no intention of doing so. I'll lock it in a magical vault until I can work out how to seal it without your help."

And with that she turned suddenly and walked away from him. _'Good, Kasumi,'_ she thought to herself with a forced smile. _'Very good. Now if only I could get past that feeling that I've just done something very, very wrong.'_

* * *

The first thing Kasumi did when she got home that afternoon was give her father a call.

"Ngh ōn, my little mist," he greeted warmly as he answered the phone. "How was school today?"

"Very good, baa," she replied vaguely.

"Really?" he answered knowingly. "Didn't I warn you about that temper of yours, Xiao Xia?"

She blushed at his comment, her voice rising in protest. "I didn't do anything, baa," she assured him. "I only did what you told me."

He let out an amused chuckle that said he didn't believe, but didn't push the matter further. "Why don't you tell me about the necklace?" he said instead, allowing her to change the topic. She did so excitedly, describing the details in depth and the magical aura around it.

Jian seemed to nod at her over the phone, a feat that would probably be impossible for anyone else. "Just make sure you keep hold of it, little mist," he told her, sounding all vague and mysterious in that way that she just couldn't stand sometimes. "It's fine in the hands of someone with magic, but if someone without magic were to put it on, they would be under its control."

"It's fine," she insisted, "I have it right here," she said rolling her eyes as she put her hand into her bag. It wasn't in the first pocket so she tried all the others, only to find it wasn't in any of those either. She hated when he was like this. Why couldn't he just come out and say 'some silly non-magical person has it' like a normal person?

"Ja ne, 'tou-san," she said hastily in Japanese, bring their conversation to an end.

"Ja ne, Kasumi."

* * *

Ayumi glanced at herself in the mirror as she gently pulled Kasumi's mystery necklace out of her pocket. It was really very beautiful and, more importantly, it was a Clow card, which meant that it was Satoshi's to begin with. She had lifted it from Kasumi's bag during their last period while nobody was looking.

"It's a shame you're not really a necklace," she murmured quietly, entranced by the way the stones captured the light and the sheen of the white gold blade. It was so lovely, it would be a shame not to try it on and see how it looked against her neck.

Even Satoshi had noted its beauty. And she thought to herself it wouldn't hurt to try it on just once, in fact, it would be a tragedy just to let Satoshi seal it without trying it on first. And she thought to herself that maybe if she wore something beautiful like this, that Satoshi might had admired so much on Kasumi, maybe he would admire her too.

It had taken little to convince her to put the necklace on, and as she closed the clasp, something strong and magical took her over. The white gold rapier around her neck glowed for an instance, and then that self same blade appeared full-sized in her hands. Her eyes turned completely black and her smile hauntingly distant.

Things had gotten complicated.

* * *

"So you're really going to make a thousand of these things?" Takeshi asked, looking almost impressed with Satoshi's sudden determination.

Satoshi nodded, his purpose on making the many paper cranes changing once again. He realized now that it would be altogether more efficient to simply make one thousand cranes and wish that Kasumi would love him forever, than to make one hundred at a time and spend the rest of his life maintaining her affection with fresh cranes. Not that he was like obsessed or anything, he just thought it would be quite nice having Kasumi love him is all.

"Want some help?" he Takeshi offered.

"Are you allowed to?" Satoshi wondered allowed. "Will it still work if I get help?"

Takeshi shrugged. "I guess it depends what you're making them for," he said mysteriously. "I think when it comes to certain wishes, it'll only work if you make them all yourself."

"Oh," Ash replied with a deep blush. "Maybe I should do them all myself. Just to be safe."

"Just to be safe," Takeshi agreed, smiling knowingly as Satoshi returned to his folding.

CRACK!

"What was that?" Satoshi asked, the loud noise distracting him from his task. He immediately felt the surge of energy telling him a Clow card was nearby and called his staff into fruition as they both moved in the direction of the noise.

Out of nowhere, a sharp blade came down, swiping at Satoshi with a swift stroke. The blade was long and sharp and glinted in the mid-afternoon light, and as they followed the blade with their eyes from tip to hilt, they met the hazy eyes of the swords owner readying herself for her next move.

"Ayumi?" they both asked in wonderment. She made no response, instead throwing various sword attacks at Satoshi. He dodged them narrowly, using his staff to block her lunges and swings.

"What do I do?" Satoshi asked desperately, barely ducking out of the way of another strike. He paused to catch his breath as Ayumi's sword caught itself in a wall, temporarily preventing further attack.

Takeshi shrugged, as clueless about what was going on as Satoshi was. "I told you she was pissed about Yawa-san," he replied with an ironic smile.

Satoshi rolled his eyes and carried on as though Takeshi hadn't said anything. "C'mon, I can't just keep blocking her like this," Satoshi explained. "Any ideas? I don't want to hurt her."

"I could always hurt her for you," A voice suggested sardonically from the doorway. The voice seemed to trigger something in Ayumi and the card, and she immediately turned her attention towards the source, suddenly indifferent to Satoshi's presence. The card had clearly involved itself in Ayumi's emotion and the sight of Kasumi infuriated her far more than anything Satoshi could do.

Ayumi launched at Kasumi, starting a series of swipes in quick succession. Kasumi, an expert swordswoman, blocked every move with her heavy jian, the two swords clashing with a heavy clang. She moved with grace and ease, her movements and swipes telling nothing of the difference in weight between the two attack swords. She blocked every strike that came against her, letting Ayumi do the attacking for now while she got a sense of what she was up against and the cards internal rhythm.

It didn't take her long to notice the metaphorical chink in the card's armour – the weak point she could use against her opponent. Ayumi's moves were varied and unpredictable, but she had a set pattern to her attack. After every attack there was a one second window of opportunity where her left side was unprotected as she readied herself for the next attack. Each attack was disjunctive – it was what allowed the card to attack so variably – and in the end, that lack of fluidity would be her downfall. All Kasumi had to do was bide her time and what for opportunity to present itself.

She concentrated on her breathing, keeping it regular. She remembered Wei's words of warning about shifting her weight and changing her posture before her attack and so made sure there was no change in her appearance that would alert Ayumi to her intentions. Her face was completely neutral and her heart rate steady; the card wouldn't know what hit her.

Only Satoshi noticed any change in her – noticed the change in her aura as she drew it inwards to centre herself. He knew she was about to attack.

"Misty, don't!" he cried, distracting her for just a moment. She turned her head in his direction, and Ayumi used the lapse against her, the golden rapier grazing her left cheek.

The move drew them into some sort of stalemate, both females standing opposite one another heavily armed, breathing heavily from the exertion. Blood dripped from the shallow cut on Kasumi's cheek, but she made no move to wipe it. Ayumi looked smug, pleased at having drawn first blood. But Kasumi looked determined and Satoshi knew this fight was far from over.

"You can't hurt her," he reiterated quietly, standing close behind her as she glared challengingly at Ayumi. She raised her sword defensively, letting it shield her chest as she watched her opponent for even the slightest indication of movement.

"What do you suppose I do then?" she hissed out of the corner of her mouth, not daring to shift her gaze towards him. She moved quickly to the left as Ayumi suddenly began to attack once again.

"I have an idea," he replied, "just keep her occupried."

"Not going to be a problem," Kasumi replied sardonically as she parried to another of Ayumi's attacks. "Just so long as your plan isn't to wait until she gets tired because only one of us is mortal here."

Satoshi nodded, although Kasumi didn't see it. He pulled one of his cards out of the deck, breathing deeply as he lowered his staff onto the card. "Illusion," he called, "show Ayumi the thing she fears most."

There was no reaction, and Satoshi realized he would need to be more specific. "Illusion," he tried again, "make it appear as though the sword is covered in spiders."

Ayumi screamed dropping the sword to the ground immediately. The sword, now without a human vessel, swirled into its true form, a shadowy silver figure in a long flowing cape. Satoshi lifted his staff, calling out the sealing chant.

"Return to the form you were meant to be, Clow card!"

The card drifted slowly, swaying first towards Kasumi and then back towards Satoshi before finally lowering itself to the ground directly between the two.

"Looks like a draw," Takeshi mused once it was clear to everyone that the card wasn't going to anyone.

Satoshi and Kasumi's eyes moved from the card in the same motion, locked on one another for a single moment.

"Take it," Kasumi said quietly, her voice soft. She recovered quickly, breaking eye contact with only a slight blush. "It's no good to me," she added almost bitterly, "what would I need with a sword anyway?

"Here," she called over her shoulder, tossing a small item in their direction as she left.

Satoshi caught it in his hands easily, opening them to reveal a small paper crane made of red and gold paper. And it seemed thoroughly possible that things weren't quite as hopeless with Kasumi as they seemed.

~ to be continued ~

Next chapter:

* * *

Notes:

**Paper Cranes**: Legend has it that if a person makes 1000 paper cranes, then they earn a wish. They're often given to couples at weddings in a wish for 1000 years of happiness. There is no legend about falling in love, but if card captors can make them up, then so can I.

**Natsume Yamabuki**: Sabrina (LeFay) of Saffron City Gym.

**Kenji Seki**: Tracey Sketchit.

**Kawaii**: cute.

**ńgh ōn**: Good afternoon (Cantonese)

**Ja ne, 'tou-san**: Bye, Dad. Informal. Japanese.


End file.
